


Danganronpa: Another Hope.

by Eringes (FrostyReports)



Category: Danganronpa
Genre: Danganronpa fangame, Fanganronpa, danganronpa ocs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2020-10-17 05:42:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 22,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20615912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostyReports/pseuds/Eringes
Summary: When Hizumi Maeda went to Hope’s Peak, he wasn’t expecting much.Definitely not this.





	1. Chapter 1

For me and my sister, Aiko, these past weeks have been a big deal. We had gotten letters from Hope’s Peak Academy not too long ago. Normally, with letters from schools or colleges, I wouldn’t be too excited. But this? This was Hope’s Peak! The most elite school in the country, holding some of the most talented kids I’ve ever seen! 

Ultimates. We were called Ultimates, or Super High Schools. The best at what we do, we were scouted for what our talents were. Whether it be physical, like a sport or hobby, or whether it be more of a title, like being an heir, or being lucky. In fact, every year they had a ticket drawing, to see who was the luckiest. However, as of now, I haven’t heard that there were any winners.

My parents were obviously elated that we got in. My father had shaken my hand, grinning, as he told me how proud he was. My mother had basically passed out, because she was so happy. My sister was basically bouncing the whole time, she was smiling and laughing. I was happy too, but not the same as her. I had smiled, and sat, and reread the letter- We were like the sun and moon. Opposites, of course, but close enough.

Aiko was accepted as the ultimate meteorologist. She could make predictions for the weather on a whim, just by looking at cloud formations and changes in the wind. She was wonderful- she was a lifesaver for hot and cold days. We never had to worry about jackets or shorts, and if the news was right or not. Her predictions were always correct, or at least mostly correct. And her charisma! She was likeable, knowing exactly what people would want in her, keeping people interested while also delivering the information they needed.

And I was accepted as the ultimate vent artist. I could make any emotions come through in my art, just by thinking of it. They were messy, but not too ugly. Sometimes, people could feel my emotions through my drawings, like they were suffocating or something.

But, I don’t really care. It’s me and my sister, together, on our own again. We don’t have too much in our bags, so we carry them ourselves. I feel strangely light and happy, as Aiko grins, and allows herself to look up at the large building. All I have in my bags are a few extra clothes, some pens, and a sketchbook. All Aiko has is some clothes, a microphone, and maybe a notepad. 

I take a look at her, and she smooths out her black dress, with a dark blue tie, perfect for her ultimate. We were supposed to wear something relating to what we were talented in- Which is why I was wearing a black turtleneck, and she was wearing that dress. 

“Well?” She asked, with that ever-present smile on her face. She liked to walk next to me when we went to new places, but I guess I’m thankful for that. I grab her free hand, not saying anything, before leading her inside. 

The main hall is actually pretty great. It’s walls are a dark purple color, with some sort of flower pattern in it. It’s lit by the windows, which have curtains that stop just before hitting the floor. The floor itself is laminated, some sort of wood. It was beautiful, fancy, and I was kind of intimidated. Here I was, dressed in a turtleneck and some ripped jeans, while the place seemed super fancy.

And all of a sudden, my vision started blurring. I tried to grab onto Aiko, but she had fallen to the floor. I felt myself crashing, hands letting go of my luggage.

And then, nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Please send kudos and comments my way! It really motivates me to write!


	2. New Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hizumi meets the others!

Ugh.

Where am I? 

Right. Hope’s Peak Academy.

It’s kind of dark in here, but I can still see. Can’t they open the curtains? I’m seated at a desk in a classroom. A chalkboard, some desks, a table- it seems pretty pristine. Well kept.

Wait, the windows are bolted?

There’s a solid sheet of steel covering it, bolted in place. I’m about to get up and look closer, when I notice a small sheet of paper.

‘Meet at the spare room’ Written in small, neat handwriting, clean and easy to read. It looks professional, and I feel compelled to go.

The hallway is brighter than the room, which shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s got dark purple walls, and linoleum floors. There’s dust in the corners, but despite that, everything is relatively clean. As I start to walk to the spare room, I notice a mirror. It’s surprisingly clean. I was expecting something dustier. I decide to look in it, and I just see..myself.

Pale, of course. I don’t get much sun. I brush most of my hair down- it’s dark brown, and goes past my chin. There’s a piece that sticks up no matter what, so I’ve given up on it by now. I stare into my own eyes- eye. My hair covers my left eye, but my right is a dark brown, almost black. I’m still wearing the black turtleneck, and jeans. 

After checking myself in the mirror, I begin walking again. The hallway leads into a larger room. Oh, hey, the spare room! That’s pretty cool.

Pushing open the door, I’m greeted with grey walls. The floors are, although there are stains. It’s a fairly large room, with a large door in the back, taking up the entire space. It’s locked tight. That’s the first thing I notice.

The second thing I noticed was how many people there were. 15 others, including my sister. I quickly went over to Aiko, who was talking to a boy with long green hair. And by long, I mean it hit the floor. His face was blank, as he looked up, staring at me. Creepy. His eyes were a light grey, making it his blunt glances worse. He was wearing a white button-up, and black dress pants.

“We have 16. You must be Aiko’s brother.” He held out a hand to shake, and I took it. “My name is Nagano Kieko. However, I prefer to add on an extra syllable. So, Naganao.” He seemed bored, face blank. 

I nodded, a bit uncomfortable, turning to meet some of the others. I bumped into a girl, who was..ridiculously short. She had blonde hair, almost covering her right eye, although I could see a bandage under it. She had light green eyes, which compared to Naganao was a good contrast. She had on a wetsuit, with a pair of shorts and a leather jacket over it.

“Sorry!” I said, and she smiled, looking back up at me. She fiddled with a necklace, before beaming.

“Hey! We’re like..twins!” Ah, the fringes. Then, beaming, she tugged at another boys hand, making him stumble over. “My name is- is Mineko Hirano!!” She stumbled over her words a little bit, speaking fast. “Ultimate marine life handler!”

“Mineko, don’t speak so fast.” The other boy had light grey hair, which was wavy, and kind of tangled at the bottoms. He had blue eyes, calm. He wore a black shirt, with dark pants. They weren’t fancy, but they weren’t jeans. He wore an apron, with flowers tucked into its pocket. “My name is Eiichi Chiba, the ultimate florist. It’s nice to meet you.” 

After greeting him, I moved on. There were three kids, all talking to each other, so I decided to try and greet them.

The first one was a girl with long purple hair. She wore a light yellow sundress, and had a bag on her back.

“Hi! I’m Orimi Mizui, ultimate ukulele player.” She gave me a warm smile, and I actually..kind of liked it. I had always been reclusive, talking to people was never my thing.

The next kid was shorter, with blue hair that faded into a light green. She had scars all over her- On her face, arms, legs, hands...everywhere. Her eyes were a light red. She wore a bright yellow one piece suit, although it stopped at the knees and elbows, with a hazmat symbol on the chest. She grinned. 

“I’m Setsuna Nakata! Ultimate test subject!” She stuck her tongue out at me, and I backed away.

The last kid had pink hair, with two antennas of hair coming out from the top. He had dark blue eyes, and a lab coat, over a blue shirt and black jeans.

“My name is Mikuni Hara, Ultimate Phlebotomist.” He glanced away. “I deal with blood taking.”

Nodding, I moved on.

There were a few more kids around. The first one I noticed was a kid with purple hair, shaved in some places. He had a ton of piercings- lip piercings, nose piercings, his ears were pierced to all hell- it must have been painful. Next to him were two other boys.

“I’m Osamu Kususe. Ultimate Jeweler.” Osamu looked bored, staring at his nails. “Huh. I could make you a nice bracelet, actually.”

“My- My name is Rikiya Sayuri.” The next boy was hunched over a little, stuttering. He had light blue hair, curling around his ears. He was wearing a sweater, with shorts.

“He’s the ultimate cartoonist. And I’m Toshimi Fujita. Ultimate lawyer.” Toshimi held out a hand, and I took it. He had very light brown hair, with bangs over his forehead. His eyes were magenta, and he was wearing a grey shirt, with a black tie, and dress pants.

The final group was the largest. There was one kid, with red hair, and blue eyes. He wore all white.

“Hello! My name is Tamio Ishikawa, ultimate cultist.” He was..creepy, but surprisingly friendly.

“I’m Kaori! Kaori Sasaki, ultimate cosmetic surgeon! This is Kotomi Kobayashi, ultimate matchmaker!” Kaori had hot pink hair, tied up in two messy buns. She wore a crop top and skirt, with a bunch of syringes at her side. Kotomi gave a wave. She had dark red hair, in two low ponytails, although she also had her hair in pigtails at the top. She wore a black dress, with a pink ribbon in the middle.

“This is Mayaka Oota, and Chiyako Sato! Mayaka is the ultimate boxer and Chiyako is the ultimate masseuse!” Mayaka has dark brown hair, tied in a ponytail, as well as shorts and a plain white shirt. She wore bandages around her hands, and her eye had a scar on it. I smiled at her, looking at Chiyako. Chiyako had purple hair, reaching to her lower back, as well as an orange shirt and black pants. She nodded a hello, turning back to Kaori.

Before I could utter a single word, a noise echoed throughout the room. It was spine chilling!

“Welcome, students, to Hope’s Peak Academy!” It’s voice was high pitched, and it laughed, before jumping out of nowhere! It..it..it was…

A teddy bear?


	3. Exploration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They explore the school.

Why the hell is a teddy bear here? It came out of nowhere! It was holding a microphone.

“Upupupu! Is this on?” He tapped the microphone jokingly, before grinning. “Now now, I’ll get to all your questions later. I am Monokuma, the headmaster of this school! And you’re here to stay! Forever!” 

It was silent. A few kids looked at the bear in horror, and a few of us stared in disbelief. Some of us looked bored, as well.

“F-forever?” Mineko had tears in her eyes, and she shook her head. “Mr. Monokuma! Why do we have to stay forever- we have families! We want to leave!”

Mayaka growled, but Kaori put a hand on her shoulder, stopping all movement from Mayaka. Monokuma, with his forever-lasting grin, looked down at us. He tapped his paw against his chin, then looked back up.

“Well, there is..one way..to leave.” And Mineko was optimistic again. She smiled, and Monokuma..laughed. He laughed maniacally, and I shivered. “You have to kill somebody, and get away with it.” The room went cold. A few people started crying. “After every murder, we have a class trial! If you catch them, they get sent to execution! But..if you don’t..you all get executed! Bludgeon, crush, break, stab, I don’t care! Anything! Well, happy killing!”

And then he left. He just left like it was nothing. Killing each other? I couldn’t believe it! Why would we ever want to kill each other? Why gather a group of strangers together? We didn’t know each other! But, then again, who knows..any of us could be the one to take the risk.

I heard somebody clear their throat, and I looked up to see Kotomi. She smiled a little bit, holding out a hand.

“Hey. Do you wanna maybe explore together?” She asked, motioning to her hand. I sighed, but took it anyway. She didn’t seem to be the type to hurt others. And so, after taking a glance back to the group, we left the room, hand in hand.

Along with the many hallways, there was a large room, attached to those hallways. It had different entrances to different places, with plaques that I could see from here. There was a blocked off stairwell at the very end, and a...door..? It was large and metal, but blocked off by a railing and glass panel. 

“Hm. I wonder why Monokuma would block off the door, or the stairs..” I mumbled, and Kotomi tugged my hand gently, leading me over to a..well, not really a doorway. It was a wide, very wide, hallway. The walls were a soft red, and the floors were carpeted. I looked around, noticing 16 doors. Oh, they were our rooms!

On my left, I saw Kaori’s room, and on my right, Mikuni’s room. We both walked through, and I started with the left side.

On the left, after Kaori, there was Orimi, Mineko, Eiichi, Naganao, Setsuna, and Rikiya. On the right, after Mikuni, there was Osamu, Tamio, Chiyako, Mayaka, and Kotomi. In the back wall, there was me, Toshimi, and Aiko. 

“I guess we should go inside our rooms, then..” Kotomi went to her door, pushing it open, and disappearing inside it. I went inside my own room, leaving the door open, and looked around.

The walls were a beige color, with a few paintings hung up. There was a closet, with several articles of clothing in it, most of them carbon copies of my current clothes. But I also saw other things- school uniforms, pajamas, and casual clothes. I turned away from it, looking around. There was a desk, with a few sketchbooks on it, against the wall. After opening the drawers, I found pencils, erasers, and really nice markers. Nothing too out of the ordinary, not really. My bed was neat, with a white comforter, and grey pillowcases over the pillow. I had a bedside drawer. Inside, there were several sketchbooks and markers. I opened the bathroom door, and looked around. My bathroom was painted grey, with a marble countertop and all. There was a note on the countertop, along with a small..tablet?

‘The girls bathrooms have locks, the boys don’t! Here is your student handbook!’ It was scribbled messily, although it was still legible. Probably from Monokuma. I opened up the handbook, looking at it. I looked around. The first was the information on each of us. 

I started on myself.

‘Hizumi Maeda, 17 years old, ultimate vent artist. 6’0-‘

It had everything! I clicked on the rules tab, and read them through.

It explained the class trials, that was..good. Curfew was from 10 pm to 8 am, the dining hall and gym were closed. Only allowed to sleep in your own rooms, and that was it. That sounds simple enough.

Oh, and failure to follow rules will result in execution. Wow.

Eventually, I leave, and I see that Kotomi was waiting for me. I grab her arm again, and we leave to the main hall. There are about two classrooms down here, the gym, the dining room, the spare room, a bathhouse, and a kitchen...although, that’s connected to the dining room. Eventually, we head to the dining room, where the others are waiting. Mikuni clears his throat, and stands up.

“So, did you guys notice anything? Or just..give us what you found, actually.” Mikuni glanced around, the two antennas on his hair move along with him. It kind of reminds me of my hair, but..mine is harder, not as wavy.

“Well, the girls bathrooms are the only one with locks!” Orimi says, smiling. “Oh, and I found stuff in my bed thingy! It had a bunch of ukulele stuff in it!” I nodded, as did a few of the others.

“Maybe it just relates to our ultimate? I found a pretty nice set of boxing gloves.” Mayaka answered, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. “Anyhow, the gym is pretty snazzy. There’s a bathhouse, too, so if we don’t wanna shower we can go there.” 

“The kitchen restocks! I grabbed a little pack of candy, and automatically, more came through!” Setsuna grinned. “...there are also a bunch of monitors everywhere.”

“...Well, our handbooks have all our information.” I mumbled. “Height, hair color, eye color, full names, everything.”

Kotomi laughed nervously, scratching her neck. “Yeah! It’s kinda creepy!”

Orimi suddenly brightened.” Y’know, it actually feels kinda nice coming here to talk! Maybe we should do it..like, when we wake up. That way if Monokuma does anything, we could help out the victims!” She was so optimistic.

“Alright, then. I have faith that none of us will hurt each other.” Chiyako said, and then she started to walk out. “I’m going to see my room.” A few others followed, while some started talking.

I sighed. Surely, nobody would hurt each other! Maybe Orimi and Chiyako were right.

But..

No matter how hard I tried to believe it, I couldn’t.

(16/16)

_Chapter 1: Garden Of Lies_ unlocked


	4. Daily Life 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hizumi hangs out with a few people!

DAILY LIFE 1/?

I figured I should just walk around, because what else was there to do? I wasn’t going to my room, that’s for sure. The first person I stumbled across was Naganao, who was writing something down in his notepad.

“Ah, Naganao..” I didn’t know whether or not to ask him to hang out. He was always so blank! He never even showed any emotions at all! 

“If you want to hang out, just say. We can always go to the dining room. I don’t think any of us have eaten since we came here.” Naganao gestured to the general area of the dining room and kitchen. I nodded, and off we went.

When we got to the kitchen area, Naganao immediately went rummaging for something. He came out with some strawberries from the fridge. I sat down at a table in the dining room, and he sat across from me, gesturing to the strawberries. I took one, watching Naganao write in the notepad.

“So, I know we just met, But I really gotta ask..um..why are you so..unemotional..? Like, blank.” I winced a little at my choice of words. Damn! Did I offend him?

“That’s just how I’ve always been. I’ve never liked hugs, or large shows of affection. Emotions were never my thing. And, don’t worry, you didn’t offend me.” He brushed through his hair. “So, how did you get your ultimate?” He picked up his notepad, looking at me. He has information in there, I’m guessing.

How do I answer? I don’t exactly..know. “Well..I’ve always shown emotions in my art.. but that’s about it.”

Me and him chatted for a bit, before going out separate ways. Eventually, I stumbled upon Setsuna

“Hello, Hizumi!” She was in the hall, just leaning against the wall near her door.

“Hey, Setsuna. Are you..going inside your room?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, I haven’t been inside here yet! And I wanna know if you wanted to go inside too? What if Monokuma was hiding something, like a bomb! Or a gun!” She waved her hands around. I rolled my eyes, but nodded, as she lifted her handbook to open the door. 

It was grey, with a darker colored floor. The bed was small, with a light green bedsheet. It had a desk, and a drawer, like mine, although they had other things on them. She opened her bedside drawer, smiling. There was gloves and a face mask.

“Ooh! Fancy! So, anyway, Hizumi! What’re you up to? I wanna watch you draw, actually!” Setsuna saw my sketchbook and pencil, which I had taken from my room, and grinned. 

Sighing, I opened the book. It was clean, moleskin, with thick pages so the markers didn’t bleed through. I had a pen with me, just for lining, and I started to sketch. As I sketched, I talked to her.

“So..did you have any pets before you came here? Me and Aiko didn’t.” I lined a few things with pen, listening to her speak.

“Hmm..I had a fish! He was a goldfish, didn’t survive too long. I’m a test subject, so the animal-related subjects were my pets! And before you ask, I was just created in a lab! That’s why I’m a test subject!” She smiled at me, and I nodded along, occasionally looking up to see her.

“So, Hizu- I’m gonna call you that- what do you wanna do when we get outta here? I know we will!” She grinned, and her eyes crinkled a little.

I didn’t comment on her blinding optimism. “Well..I guess..see some art museums. Go on long walks, do stuff I haven’t done before.” I smiled, tilting my head a bit. “Be friends with a lot more people.”

Setsuna gasped. “Aw! That’s so sweet! Hizu, you’re so cute sometimes!” I flushed, but didn’t answer.

Eventually, we parted, and I walked around a bit. In the bathhouse, Orimi stood, playing on her handbook.

“Orimi, what’re you doing?” Was she gonna take a bath, or what?

“I’m checking stuff! I haven’t gotten the chance to! I was gonna take a bath, but then I decided not to!” I didn’t comment about how she could’ve done that in her room. “So, what’re you doing here?”

“I was just looking around. I’m pretty bored, after all.” She smiled warmly, patting my back. 

“Well, we should hang out! I wanna check out that sealed off door thing, with the glass and all!” Ah- the metal railing and glass casing. I nodded, because hey, I hadn’t seen it too much. She basically dragged me, though, so I really didn’t do much.

Looking at the glass case, I noticed fingerprints on it. Maybe some of the others had touched it, causing the prints? The metal raising was thick, and when Orimi kicked it, it made a changing sound. She hopped a little, holding her foot.

“Ow!” I rolled my eyes, she’s so stupid! She pouted at me, shaking her head, before perking up.

“Ooh! We should go to the gym! I wanna see if there’s any microphones or anything!” She jumped up, and basically ran towards the gym. I followed, picking out my pace, because she was fast! Even though my legs were longer, it felt like she was a track runner, which wasn’t really enjoyable. Maybe Orimi did, in fact, run track when she was younger.

Eventually, we got to the gym, where Orimi found a microphone kit on a stage. She had her ukulele with her, and I immediately guessed that she was going to do a show. I sighed, sitting on the floor, as she started to play. I couldn’t lie, it was actually pretty enjoyable!

The monitor in the gym flicked on. “It’s 10 pm! Go to the dorms, get some shut eye! Tomorrow we have a big day!” I sighed, exiting the gym with Orimi in tow. I was quick to get to the dorms, waving her a goodbye, before opening my door. I closed and locked it, going to my closet to change.

Once I did, I laid on my bed. What Setsuna had said earlier...about us getting out. I didn’t think about it much at the time, but it felt..wrong. And what Monokuma had said- a big day? What was going to happen? I would have to talk to Aiko tomorrow.

Eventually, I drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	5. The Motive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The motive is revealed

DAILY LIFE 2/?

When the announcement played, I woke up almost immediately. I stretched, changing into a copy of my regular clothes, before exiting the room. There are a few people coming out, rubbing their eyes or stretching, and I walk right past them. To the dining room-kitchen I go, I guess.

When I entered the room, I noticed everybody was there, except for Kotomi, Rikiya, and Orimi. Huh, am I really that late? Or, is everybody just early? How much time passed while I was getting ready? I don’t even brush my hair that often, so I don’t take that long, but it feels like I’m late. I’m a bit surprised that Kotomi and Orimi are late- but Rikiya does seem like somebody who would be late, whether on accident or because he didn’t want to come.

I took a seat next to Kaori. I wasn’t really hungry, but I noticed a few of the others eating. It was mostly cereal or yogurt- just anything light, really.

“Now that we’re almost all here, besides those three, why don’t we talk about our lives here?” Mikuni asked, looking up. “We’re going to live here forever until somebody dies, yes? So, why not just..you know, let ourselves? Hello, you three, finally arriving at the fucking table.”

Everything was silent, as Mikuni took a bite of his yogurt. Even Orimi, who was usually optimistic, took her seat in silence. I sighed, glaring at him a little. Mineko was tearing up, and Eiichi had a grip on her shoulders, gently holding her.

“You don’t have to be an asshole about it!” I shouted, before quieting down. “You made Mineko cry, you know.” I mumbled that, and Mikuni raised an eyebrow.

“Apologies, I didn’t know some of you couldn’t handle the truth.” He spat his sentence out, and Setsuna hit his arm. Mineko had started to cry, as Eiichi rubbed her back, glaring at him.

“Mikuni! That was so mean!” Orimi reaches over the table, flicking his antenna hair, then his face. “You better apologize to Mineko!”

Mikuni huffs, turning to apologize, when suddenly..

“All students, please make your way to the gym! I have a very special gift for you guys!” Monokuma seemed close, because of the stupid monitors, and I got up. We all knew it was better to agree with Monokuma than to fight. Who knows what would happen!

When we got to the gym, Monokuma was standing at a podium, with a bunch of binders. Kotomi crosses her arms, and I can hear Mikuni about to say something, when Monokuma throws them around.

“Clearly, you guys aren’t gonna murder, so I decided to give you..a little bit of motivation! Go play!” He shouted, voice disgustingly cheerful. I rolled my eyes, but walked over to the binder with my name. A few others followed.

Well, this wasn’t even frightening. I looked at mine, flipping through it. Inside were photographs of every person I’ve ever loved. They were being beaten or killed, harmed in some brutal way. But I..didn’t care, honestly. Not that I didn’t care about them, but I had a feeling these were fake. All these people were alive and well, my sister was fine. My friends hadn’t died, my parents were alive. So..yeah. Pretty dumb.

With a sigh, I turned, exiting the gym to go somewhere else. I mean, if I was indifferent, surely the others would act the same? At least, that’s what I thought. Until I heard sobbing. Of course, it sounded like Mineko. Was that really surprising, though? She never seemed to be stable enough. I looked back to see Mikuni storming out, face red with anger. 

Hadn’t he been the one to suggest not trying to leave? I couldn’t help but think. What if he killed one of us? I picked up my pace, looking around, suddenly aware.

I would have to keep an eye on him.


	6. Daily life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hizumi goes on another free time event!

_Daily life 3/4_

After the motive was revealed, boredom took hold of me. I tried to just think about it, but nothing came. Seeing as it wasn’t very late, I got up, deciding to head to the gym again. There, I spotted Toshimi. Huh..what was he doing? I walked closer, and he looked up.

“Hello, Mr. Maeda.” Jeez, is he always this formal? “What is it that you want?”

I sighed. “Well, what’re you doing? I guess we can talk and hang out, or..whatever. Yeah, that sounds good, right?” I had to ask. With people like Orimi or Kotomi, it seemed easy to talk to them. They were open, especially with Orimi. Toshimi..wasn’t exactly the most..open guy. He talked, yeah, but unless you spoke to him first, he didn’t seem up for conversation. I expected him to scoff, or sigh, or push me away. Instead, he glanced at me, and a smile spread across his face.

“Mmhm, Mr. Maeda. We could hang out.” I couldn’t help but feel relieved. For a lawyer, his voice sure was gentle. “For now, I am just checking the gym for further..details, I suppose you could call it. Mostly, I’m just checking for any possible exits..even though there does not seem to be any.” I sighed. There we go again, with the whole ‘trying to get out’ thing. 

“Hmm. You’re optimistic about this? Kinda pointless.” I sat down near him, resting my head on my hand. “I mean..come on. You really think there’s gonna be an exit? Hah!” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“..Well, I’m not exactly..optimistic, Mr. Maeda. Not compared to Ms. Mizui or anybody like that.” He pushed himself into a kneeling position, resting his hands on his lap. “Mr. Maeda, your cynicism is...admirable. How you can keep negative emotions inside of you for so long. It’s admirable..and a little detrimental.”

I got into a standing position, sighing. “Yeah. I guess so. Thanks. I’ll see you around.”

I exited the gym, looking around, before spotting Aiko. I hadn’t even talked to her since we got here! I felt..bad, kind of. She was always there for me, but then again, she didn’t..always require my attention. I waved her down, walking over to her.

“Hey, Hizu!” She smiled up at me. “It’s fine that you didn’t hang out with me! I was mostly exploring- come on! Let’s go to the spare room!” I didn’t get a chance to say no, or say yes, as she had ran off immediately. So I had to follow.

When we got there, I looked around again, taking a closer look at everything. The walls had cobwebs and dust covering it. Gross. Everything was dusty, and the door in the back was padlocked to hell and back.

Aiko hummed, walking to it, trying to pull it open. Obviously, it didn’t budge. Did she..not see the locks all over it?

Aiko saw my confusion, of course. “Aha, just checking! I was making sure they weren’t just trying to intimidate us, Hizu!” She came back to me, throwing an arm around my shoulders, which I gently pull off of me. “Right..you don’t like hugs..” She gets off, going back to the door to inspect it. “Super dusty!” She mumbled, and I sighed.

“Why is everybody so insistent on leaving this place? Until somebody kills somebody, we’re not going to leave. The motive could make somebody snap as well-“ I stopped myself before I could go into a rant. It was all bullshit, their optimism. Aiko looked at me, frowning. I didn’t feel guilty, instead I just felt..angry. “Never mind. I’m going. Don’t come after me.” I turned, walking right out of the room. My anger wasn’t justified, but unlike Orimi, her optimism didn’t make me feel differently.

In my anger, I had bumped into somebody. I looked down, and ended up glancing at a small blue head. Rikiya? He doesn’t seem too optimistic, which is just my thing.

He yawns, rubbing his eye, clutching a few pencils. “Oh, heeyyy, Hizumi-“ He looks sleep deprived. I don’t blame him, but it..kind of worries me. “..do you wanna hang out?” He asked, and I couldn’t say no. He was cute- and since he was skinny, he looked like he could be crushed with a finger. I had to. I felt an urge to protect him.

We ended up inside my room, it’s beige walls blaring down on us. While my boring style fit the boring walls, Rikiya didn’t. He was wearing an ink-stained grey shirt, with some pop culture reference on the front. Still, he generally looked..brighter. He sat down on the bed..more like collapsed.

“Wow..so you’re an artist?” Rikiya asked. “I mean, I make cartoons, but this is..pretty..” he cuts himself off with a yawn. “Cool.” Huh. I feel kind of flattered. Not a lot of people call me cool- Aiko doesn’t count, She’s my sister. 

“Thanks. Your talent is..interesting.” I didn’t usually compliment people. So the best adjective I could come up with was interesting. He looked half close to passing out. “Hey, why don’t you go back to your room to sleep? I can stabilize, but your room is one of the ones at the end of the wall.” 

Rikiya nodded. “Yeah...I think that’s a good idea.” He stood up, and swayed a bit, so I went by his side. I put an arm around him, and walked with him, opening the door with my other hand. The walk to his room wasn’t too long, but because he was sleep deprived, it took an extra bit to get him in there. He opened the door, so I entered, coming closer to the bed. The room smelled like cinnamon, and it was a light red color for the walls. The desk had a bunch of paper and cartoons on it, as well as messy ink and pens. I decided to leave, waving goodbye to him..even if he was already half asleep. 

As soon as I exited the room and closed the door, the monitors turned on.

“Alright, kiddos! It’s 10 pm! Off to bed, have sweet dreams!” Then, they clicked off. God, Monokuma’s voice was annoying! But, I guess it was better to obey. So, I made the quick walk to my room, opening the door and entering.

After changing into night clothes, I fell back onto my bed. This motive..nobody seemed too bothered by it, besides Mikuni earlier. Does this mean nobody will kill each other? What would happen if we didn’t? I eventually drifted off, mind running wild.


	7. Blood

The morning announcement came quickly, and I was half tempted to throw my pillow at the monitor and go the fuck back to bed.

Of course, thinking of the punishment that I could get wasn’t the most tasteful thing. So I decided to follow his directions. For now. I really just wanted to see Aiko, but god knows what she would try and get me to do. I would need to go to breakfast either way.

I was quick to change, not wanting to be almost late like last time. My usual turtleneck and jeans. For a moment, I checked myself in the mirror...no, nothing weird. After studying myself in the mirror for a minute, I left my room, sketchbook and pen in hand. I was pretty hungry, since I haven’t eaten yet. Sue me.

Getting into the dining room, I noted how few people there were. Toshimi, Orimi, Kotomi, and Aiko. Am I early? I check the time and..it took me a whole minute to get out here, and that’s it. Wow. I grab myself some cereal from the cabinet, pouring the milk in after I pour the cereal in my bowl, heading back over with my spoon. I take a seat in between Kotomi and Aiko, and I just..start eating. Surprisingly, Mikuni isn’t there. I never expect the medical ones to be late..then again, maybe he’s elsewhere..I can’t help but be suspicious of him. 

For about 10 minutes, nobody comes. Everybody has finished their food, and put away their dishes, but nobody is talking. It’s..a shame, really. I’m not super sociable, but even Orimi is silent.

I was tossed out of my train of thought by Aiko, who brightened, hitting her hand against the table harshly. Toshimi jumped, almost spilling his cup of coffee, as she gave her declaration.

“I bet there’s something else! Let’s go to the extra room!”

Immediately, Orimi and Kotomi nodded, while Toshimi coughed a couple of times. I reached past Kotomi, patting his back, watching as the three girls got up and left. He cleared his throat, putting his cup down.

“It’s better if we follow, Mr. Maeda.” He said, clearing his throat again and adjusting his tie. How formal. I nod, standing, not saying a word. At least Toshimi doesn’t force me to talk- he seems fine with the silence I bring. I guess I appreciate that, even if I don’t like the formal aspects. Oh well. I can deal. He’s a lawyer, it makes sense that he’s formal. But he’s gentle, of course, so I don’t expect too much fight out of him.

As he stands, I hear a bloodcurdling scream, that can belong to none other than Orimi herself. Without another word, Toshimi goes rigid, before taking off in the direction of the extra room. I follow. If it weren’t for my long legs, I doubt I would be able to keep up! As we slam through the door, I’m greeted with a horrible sight.

A body lays in a large pool of blood, several stab wounds in their stomach. There’s blood on their chin and corner of their mouth, as well as their hands tied together with some sort of string or rope. 

That body belongs to none other than Setsuna Nakata.

I lift my foot, wincing as blood starts dripping off my shoes. The loud sound of an announcement goes off, as Monokuma appears on the monitors. I tune out the announcement, but I’m guessing he told everybody to meet in this room, because after a few minutes, a crowd gathers. I glance at Mikuni, whose expression is angry, but I can see some heartbreak in his eyes. Then again, I’m sure they were great friends. Setsuna and Orimi seemed to have the ability to calm him down. 

Naganao cleared his throat, his blank tone resting in the air, as he spoke with such certainty. His face was still blank, as he came to the body.

“Monokuma said to investigate, if you did not hear. I suggest we start now.” Naganao’s blunt words seemed to get everybody moving. “Me, Hizumi, Toshimi, and Kotomi will check the body. Mikuni, Rikiya, Osamu, Tamio, check the dorm rooms. Orimi, Aiko, Kaori, Chiyako, check areas like the kitchen, any non-dorm room. Mayaka, Mineko, Eiichi, make sure the possible killer doesn’t try and dispose of any evidence.” Then, Naganao turned, and the others who weren’t supposed to be there left..meaning, only us four.

-

The body was propped up against the wall, that was the first thing I noticed. Setsuna was in a sitting position, head slumped forward a tiny bit. I could see a small stream of blood on her chin, and the corner of her mouth. There are two stab wounds, but they’re kind of connected, so it looks like one big slice. I see, out of the corner of my eye, Naganao checking his personal tablet.

“The time of death was 7:48. Cause of death was the stab wounds that we see here.. we can add any additions we see.” Naganao kept scrolling through his handbook. “So, everybody is a suspect. The death was before curfew was over.”

I walked over to the body, wincing, before looking around at her. Her face didn’t look..bad. It looked angry, as though she had fought back..but her hands were tied. Wait, but why not her legs? If the culprit wanted to… well, it doesn’t matter now. I’m sure I’ll figure it out later.

“Is this ink on her shirt? Hizumi, you’re good with that- what is this?” Kotomi asked, and I looked at the top of her shirt. Right there was a bit of ink. Now that I look closer, it’s noticeable against the yellow fabric. I give a small nod, before feeling what was tying her hands.

“Shoelaces.” I looked at the other three. “Her hands are tied using shoelaces. But not her legs. That seems..kinda pointless. Can’t she still kick?”

“You’re right, Mr. Maeda. Ms. Nakata could have still kicked the culprit, so I don’t think the culprit thought it through well enough.” Toshimi suddenly piped in. “...her legs are entirely covered in blood..the bottoms, at least. And the blood over here is a bit streaky..maybe..”

I took a look, and saw..more ink. “More ink, it’s mixed with the blood. Naganao, are you getting this down?” I turned to see Naganao typing in his handbook, nodding, before posting it. There was a quiet chiming sound from the four of us, which I ignored, as we went back to the body. 

“There’s not much else!” Kotomi smoothed out some of her hair, looking at Naganao. He had suddenly stopped near the trash can, looking down into it. He pulled out two objects. A face mask, and a pair of gloves, both bloody. He typed the evidence into the tablet-

“Students, please make your way to the main floor stairwell.” Monokuma’s annoying voice echoed through, as we all dreadfully made our way to the stairwell. Nobody was talking. The door had opened, revealing a large elevator, and we all stepped into it. Once we were all inside, it started going down, and down.

The silence was unbearable. The once-talkative group was now drowning in a wave of nothing, of sad emotions that were almost palpable to me. 

As we got off the elevator, I prepared myself. For Setsuna. We would do it for her.

  
  



	8. Class Trial 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial

God, I hate these podiums.

Seated to my right is a picture of Setsuna, with an ‘X’ covering her. Seated to my left is Kaori. The room is mostly quiet- Orimi and Mikuni filled with sadness, and the rest of us filled with dread. Any of us could have killed her, and we have to find out who that sad sack of shit is. And if we get it wrong, we all die. Wow. 

“Let’s start with the weapon and cause of death.” Toshimi speaks up, a bit louder than usual. He’s in his element, only instead of having any judge, he has to convince us. I’m honestly excited- Toshimi clearly has a spark to him. You just have to dig for it..interesting. 

“It’s clear that the body was somehow stabbed, we can tell by the wounds.” Naganao takes out a pen, and a piece of paper. “The holes are messily connected, since they’re closer together. We can assume this person was rushed.” He writes something, before putting the pen and paper away.

“There wasn’t a blood trail.” Chiyako was gentle, when she spoke. “Although you..don’t need me to tell you that.” She looked away. 

“Could she have been stabbed with a knife..?” Mineko sticks her tongue out a bit, tilting her head. “I didn’t really see the body..but usually people get hurt by kitchen knives!”

“The wounds were small, more like holes than anything.” I answered. “So it couldn’t be a knife. Unless it was super small- but I have a ton of doubts.”

Kaori have a wide grin. “Well, there were no knives taken from the kitchen! Buutttt..~” at the end, her voice turned much more sing-songy, as she pulled out a bag. There were some bloody syringes. “We found these there! And I know they weren’t mine, all my syringes are in my little drawer!” Kaori giggles a bit, directing her gaze to Mikuni.

Orimi gasped. “M-Miku! You- you- you didn’t, did you? Tell me you didn’t! Please!” She sounded desperate, as we all slowly turned to Mikuni. He was wide eyed, shaking, as though just the thought could send him into a frenzy.

“What?! No! I didn’t!” His hands waved around wildly as he spoke, but he suddenly looks..angry. “And you assholes have no proof I did it! None! You have fucking nothing to prove that I killed Setsuna!”

Rikiya finally spoke, after watching him go into his fit. He smiled slyly, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, but what about the syringes? They were certainly yours. Everybody here is a suspect, even you, because of her time of death.. before the announcement. And, not to mention..” he twirled his hair. “...she bled out. That takes a long time, I’m sure, even with the slash.”

Mikuni was.. at a loss for words. Rikiya’s points made sense- Mikuni was the most obvious suspect by this point. None of us really had an alibi.

“And, the walls aren’t soundproof! I’m across from you- and I could hear your door opening sometime at night. What did you do? Did you sneak out to kill her? Maybe you dragged her body before stabbing her!” Kaori put her hands on her face, smiling.

Orimi looked up. “Oh, no! Miku suffers from frequent nightmares! I actually came to his room myself!” She smiled. “..Setsuna was still in her room..”

Osamu looked at his nails. “They’re probably decoys. Think about it- Mikuni would clearly be noticed. No offense, my dude, but you really aren’t the quietest..”

What else could prove he’s not the culprit? Oh, right! “The shoelaces! Mikuni wears dress shoes, they don’t have laces. The body had laces tied over her wrists.. but why just her wrists..?” I hoped Kotomi or Naganao had an answer. They seemed to know a lot.

Naganao looked at his tablet, looking at the evidence. He didn’t seem to have anything else to say, so I glanced at Kotomi, hoping she understood what I wanted to bring up.

Lucky for me, she did.

“Oh, right! Let’s talk about the body itself. I noticed that she was moved.. and there was a tiny bit of something on her shirt- barely noticeable, but if you moved her..you could see it.” She glanced at me. “..I think Hizumi knew what it was..”

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s ink- if you look close enough, you can clearly see it. And we found some mixed with the blood. I think we should figure this out sometime before the end of the trial.”

Mayaka nodded. “Alright, dude. Now, let’s-“

“Well, sorry to cut in, but I also found something else.” Aiko pulled out a torn up binder. “This binder. The label is scratched up and the pictures are removed, but it was in the trash can in the kitchen! I don't know why it was there..” Aiko frowned, putting it down, and I simply nodded. We really weren’t getting anywhere.

Toshimi sighed, crossing his arms behind his back. “I feel as though we should address the state of the body now. She was stabbed, obviously, with something circular. And there’s ink. Perhaps, it could be a pen.” He glanced at me, immediately. Right, I used pens the most out of everybody. In fact, I always had one on me, somehow. “Pens are small and circular-“

“Yeah, dipshit, we get it!” I couldn’t help but be snippy. God, fuck Toshimi, with his gentle tone and soft face and pretty eyes. “A pen is round! Yes, we get it! You can shut up on describing the damn pen! WE FUCKING GET IT!”

Everybody fell silent, looking at me. Aiko and Kotomi were both concerned, Naganao had that blank look he always had (there was a tinge of something in his eyes). 

“But come the fuck on! PENS DON’T JUST LEAK INK OUT OF NOWHERE! For fucks sake!” I tugged at the turtleneck a little bit, with one hand. With the other, I gripped the podium- it was cold, as though it hadn’t been used for a while.. which, I guess, makes sense. 

“Hizumi..” Aiko leans forward, in her spot between Mikuni and Toshimi. The two boys stare at me- Mikuni has a smirk on his face, while Toshimi has hard eyes.

“You know, you’re acting a biiitttt aggressive~!” Kaori giggles. “What about a broken pen? It could have broken in the process, with the force used~!”

I hadn’t thought of that. “Well- I- FUCK!” I slammed my hand into my podium, making several others jump. God damn it!

I had just made myself a suspect!


	9. Class Trial 2

Fuck! I got where they were coming from- but this couldn’t make sense! I didn’t even leave my room at all! What could I say?

Every minute that passed by was like torture, as I wracked my brain for some defense- they were staring, but I couldn’t think, I just..couldn’t. Why was this happening?

“I don’t think he did it!” Kotomi spoke up, lifting her head. “He only owns ballpoint pens, and unless they’re really broken, I don’t think they spill ink that easily!” Thank god for Kotomi- she gives me a small smile, which is just..precious. I can’t help but smile back at her. Aiko shoots me a glance, different from normal, but I can’t really see it correctly.

Naganao nods his head, looking up. “As a therapist, I use ballpoint pens to write. I have indeed broken many, and I can confirm that they don’t always spill ink.” He went back to writing something on his notepad. “You’re a lawyer, Toshimi. I assumed you would have known this.. unless you’re hiding something?”

Toshimi paled, just a little bit. I glanced at him- his eyes were wide, and he clutched his podium, as though he was going to pass out. Naganao certainly struck a chord with that one.

Tamio clasped his hands together, smiling, eyes shut. “Ah! It’s been so long since I’ve seen a good conflict!” He hummed. “Thank the gods, it’s much more interesting this way!” He’s so damn creepy sometimes, his voice is happy..despite a murder happening less than an hour or two ago..he’s still happy go lucky.

His eyes open again, as he stares right at Toshimi- his blue eyes have no emotion behind them, and he lets his hands fall at his side. “Why don’t you tell us about this secret of yours~?” The scrutiny behind his gaze was somehow bone-chilling. I couldn’t help but dart my eyes away- returning them back to Toshimi.

“Okay, I know who the killer is!” Toshimi burst out, and he shook his head. “But if- if I tell everybody, he may hurt me! He- he…” Toshimi stopped talking, breathing heavily.

“..I think I’ve got it.” Osamu checked over his nails, as he spoke. “..but..” He gave a smile, glancing around. “There’s one piece of evidence we forgot to talk about. Naganao specifically put it in the tablet.”

Of course! “Right! Well, the gloves and mask probably belonged to Setsuna- Or Mikuni, but I think we’ve already ruled him out!” I gestured to Mikuni, before looking at Naganao. “They were in the trash, meaning they might’ve been used at the scene..they were bloody. But with all this evidence..”

The ink, the shoelaces..the binder.. there was one person I could think of.

“Rikiya Sayuri!” I turned to him, who perked up. “We are the only two who use ink! And I’ve been ruled out!”

“Me?” Here we go, denial. “Hizumi, what about Mikuni? The syringes were found! We can’t rule him out, no matter what you say! He has medical items like gloves and masks and such!” Rikiya glared at me, clenching his fists. “And Toshimi can CONFIRM it wasn’t me! Right?!” He glanced at Toshimi, who looked away hesitantly, frowning. “COME ON! STOP BEING QUIET! ANSWER. ME!” 

“Rikiya, you seem much less relaxed than usual..” Naganao glanced at him, raising an eyebrow- the most I’ve seen him express so far. “You know we don’t believe anything that spews from your mouth. So please, explain to us what you did.” His gaze is strong..

They were both silent, staring at each other, until Rikiya broke. He slumped, sighing.

“..it was all a stupid argument. I had invited her about an hour or two before breakfast, to talk about the motive.” Rikiya smiles a bit. “And it was pretty nice, until..she started taunting. And I got angry.”

Mikuni rolled his eyes. “Clearly.”

“Oh, shut it!” Rikiya snapped back, before clearing his throat. “..I had enough. I stabbed her once, with my ink pen-“ he held up a broken ink pen, with the ink seeping out, along with blood. “..it had broken before. And I ran back to grab her belongings- I don’t know what I was thinking. But I grabbed them, and I came back. She was still alive- so, in order for her not to tell anybody..” he made a stabbing motion. “I made a second hole. Some ink splattered, and I..tied her wrist with my laces.”

“That’s the part I don’t understand. Why her wrists?” Kotomi asked. 

“..It was easier to move her- I dragged her to cover the ink on the ground, and immediately left, disposing of everything..” Rikiya looked away. “And Toshimi saw me. So, I threatened him not to tell.” He glared right at Toshimi, who nervously clutched his podium. “And the little shit didn’t even try! You fucking- IDIOT! Why, I should have killed you-“

“Hey, Hey!” Chiyako shook her head. “Calm down- this was your fault anyway!” She huffed. “You have no room to insult others, especially when you committed a crime yourself!” She brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear.

Mayaka simply nodded. “Well, lets vote for this asshole, now!” 

Nobody hesitated in voting for him, Orimi and Mikuni were the first, and Toshimi was the last.

The culprit is…

RIKIYA SAYURI, ULTIMATE CARTOONIST!

“Wow, kiddos!” Monokuma laughed his shrill and annoying laugh. “I’m impressed! And now..” he took out a gavel. “IT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!” With the hit of the gavel, a chain wrapped around Rikiya’s neck, and he was sent to his doom.


	10. Road Running

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The execution of Rikiya Sayuri

Rikiya looks around at the dusty road, which stretches out farther and farther, into what seems like nothingness. The ground he’s on his dull, but the sky is bright blue, plain. He starts walking, looking around slowly. As he walks, he begins to see canyons, clouds shaped like Monokuma, even some small flowers. It’s all vibrant- something like a children’s book.. As he walks, he notices something in the distance.

A door. A door to escape. It’s huge, and there’s a sign, simply saying freedom. Rikiya widens his eyes, smiling brightly. Yes! This was his way out- his way home! His way back to his parents! As he takes another few steps, he begins to feel hope sink into him. Maybe her death wasn’t in vain? He wouldn’t die, he just knew it! He was almost there- almost there!

A loud sound came from directly behind him, making him jump. He slowly turned around. There was an anvil, crushing the ground where he was standing just moments before..it had almost crushed him. Feeling a sense of panic, Rikiya turned back, starting to pick up speed. Occasionally, heavier objects would start to trail him, but Rikiya was always one step ahead. He broke from a speed walk into a sprint, objects falling over and over behind him. They never hit him- anvils, boulders, dynamite. It took out pieces of the ground and sometimes even pieces of the canyon. Finally, he got to the door, and put one hand where the doorknob was-

And it was flat. Rikiya pat the area, but it was completely 2D. There was no doorknob, no way to open it or see through. As he focused, he began to make out a wall- a brick wall with the door painted on it. But it had seemed so realistic when he had seen it before! He was sure of it-

As Rikiya took a step back, a boulder came down from a nearby cliff, and blood splattered everywhere. It covered the brick wall- the door wasn’t there anymore, covered in blood.

\- -

I couldn’t stop staring. What the fuck-?! Rikiya was nothing more than a bloody mess by this point, with no chance of escape. I finally ripped my eyes away from the scene- Orimi was crying, covering her eyes, with Mikuni at her side. Toshimi was pale, and Kotomi looked ready to puke. Aiko and Naganao had no expressions- I expected Naganao..but Aiko..?

My attention was drawn to Mayaka, who punched the nearest wall harshly, before leaving to the elevator. Chiyako and Kaori followed, no longer exchanging words. Tamio had a giddy grin on his face, while Mineko had started sobbing into Eiichi’s apron. Eiichi remained quiet, yet I could see the pain welling in his eyes. Osamu had stopped checking his nails, and with no hesitation, left the room. Aiko and Toshimi followed- my sister didn’t even look at me. I assumed it was the shock, so I directed my attention to Kotomi, coming near her.

“Kotomi, it’s alright. How about we head back and..try to sleep?” The others were already leaving, although Mikuni was holding the elevator for us. I grabbed Kotomi’s hand, slowly leading her to the elevator. She did not talk, didn’t look up from the floor.

When we finally got out of the elevator, I heard the nighttime announcement go off, but I barely paid attention. Kotomi, Aiko, and Osamu rushed off to their rooms..and so, I followed suit, getting to my room. I shut the door, but didn’t even change, immediately dropping to my knees. I curled up a little, feeling tears well up in my own eyes.

I slowly drifted off into a restless sleep, thinking of Rikiya and Setsuna. The two with their lives cut short, thanks to some stupid game.


	11. Chapter 2.0

The announcement goes off, and I feel like I haven’t slept a wink. I didn’t have any nightmares like I thought I would have, but I still feel like shit. I don’t bother to brush my hair or change out of my dirty clothes. I grabbed my sketchbook, a marker, and I left for the dining room.

Everybody was already there. Most of them looked tired. As soon as I walked in, some of them looked at me. Mikuni left the room, going to the kitchen area. I sighed, sitting down at the table. As though I had flipped a switch, they all got to their seats, leaving one for Mikuni. I didn’t bother to talk to Aiko, instead I went ahead and started sketching in marker. My sadness had all been expelled by this point, so my drawings seemed pretty lackluster. Then again, I didn’t have anybody to please but myself. I looked up when I saw a bowl of cereal placed in front of me. There was chopped fruit in it, and a side of yogurt. It was better than what I usually ate. To my surprise, Mikuni had given it to me. He had given food to everybody.

“I.. I just wanted to apologize, you guys. I was- I was really a dick..aha..” Mikuni scratched the back of his neck. “So from now on, I will be making breakfast!”

He was met with deafening silence, and looked around. He quickly sat down, starting to eat. The atmosphere was absolutely dreadful, and I was really putting me down too. Nobody was looking at Mikuni, except for me, and Naganao. The green-haired boy was writing, occasionally looking up, but I couldn’t take this. This was exactly what I hated.

“Okay, assholes!” I slammed my hands on the table, pushing myself up, making quite a few people jump. “I can’t take this shit! You guys are all acting..well..not like yourselves!” I wasn’t used to making inspirational speeches, and I breathed in, looking around at them. “This is exactly what Monokuma wants! Come on, fuckers! Setsuna and Rikiya wouldn’t have wanted you guys to be so- so- so melancholic!” I breathed in and out, the deafening silence was making me nervous. What did I do wrong? What did I say? I should have shut my fucking mouth.

“Hizumi, breathe.” Naganao spoke, noticing the silence. Kotomi was staring at me, a soft smile forming on her face. “I think you said the right thing.”

I sat back down quickly, to finish my breakfast. I tuned everybody out, and when I finished, I quickly put my bowl and spoon in the sink, and the trash in the trash can. I was about to leave...when that stupid bear appeared again.

“Pupupu~! Congrats!” Monokuma kept his eternal smile, a congratulations hanging in frozen air, air that was so still. It was only broken by the others.

“Hey- Asshole! What the fuck?! You fucking arrive here after the fucking murder shit- WITH A FUCKING CONGRATULATIONS?!” Mayaka snarled, standing up. Her chair crashed to the ground, a loud clatter that made me flinch. As soon as she cracked her knuckles, Chiyako shook her head, looking almost close to tears.

“Mayaka! Please- please calm down! I don’t think you should try and hurt him-” After a moment of coaxing, Mayaka reached to pick her chair back up. She set it down, and sat down, huffing loudly.

“Like the crybaby said! Hurting me would be punishment-worthy! But I’m here to tell you that the second floor opened up!” Monokuma laughed again, and suddenly disappeared, as if he was never there. We were left in silence, until Orimi stood up, a bright smile on her face.

“Well! The second floor opened, come on!” She grabbed Mikuni’s hand, rushing out. The others followed, besides Aiko and Kotomi. Without thinking, I grabbed Kotomi’s arm.

“Hey, Koto. C’mon.” I basically tugged her, not hearing her answer. I wanted to find out what was up- why were we given these new places? There was fear, and some curiosity in my heart.  
-

After climbing up the long stairs, I looked around. On my left was an empty room, and on my right was a white room. Kotomi took the lead, smiling.

“Alright! First room!” She pulled my arm, walking into the room on my right. It was white, with beds, and a desk..a nurse’s office? Well, that was good. Mikuni was here, looking through the drawers, with a small smile settling on his face.

“I have to say, they do have quite a few materials I can use.. Needles, antiseptics, even medicine. It’s like a hospital room, but..” He looked around in a few drawers, before nodding. “Nevermind, there are gloves.” 

I glanced at the camera in the room, before exiting, leaving Kotomi to talk to the other male. I went to the other room, which was similar to the one Setsuna died in..

Another spare room, with boxes. Glancing around, I noticed what looked like a few outlets. I stepped closer to a box, and opened it, to reveal.. Oh, a hair dryer. So, maybe this was for things powered by electricity?

After opening a few more boxes, I confirmed that there were mostly electric-based tools. There were a few power tools, like drills, but besides that there wasn’t much else. With a sigh, I quietly exited, walking further.

The next room I saw was a room with a bunch of equipment in it. Dumbbells, bar weights..it was obviously a weight room. There was a poster on the wall of a male weightlifter, who had a ton of muscles..kinda hot. The walls were lavender, and there was a cream colored carpet. Taking my eyes away from the poster, I left the room. I certainly wasn’t gonna be doing anything here.

I kept walking. The walls up here had a few posters and paintings hung up, but were almost as empty as the ones downstairs. The next room had double doors, so I pushed one of them open. The scent of chlorine hit my nose hard, and I winced, before looking around. It was a large pool, with four diving boards, each of different length and height. 

There were two other doors, one was pink and one was blue. I wonder what these were for..?

I went to the blue one, seeing something next to the door. A scanner..? Out of curiosity, I put my monopad up to it.. And it opened. I peered inside, and saw a bunch of lockers. Oh, a changing room. This one must be for the males, then.

I quickly left, walking across the carpeted floor. There was the next area, I assumed.. It had another double-door. With a sigh, I opened it..

There were flowers everywhere, and solar panels..Weird. A garden, maybe? Ugh, it was bright in here..but not notable at all. Without another word, I left the room, checking one more time around to see if there were any more rooms. But there was nothing else but an elevator, similar to the one on the first floor.

Before I knew it, the familiar announcement went off.. Nighttime. Investigating made me super tired, and I trudged to my room.

As soon as I came in, I changed, before collapsing onto my bed. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.


	12. 2.1

Daily life 1/4

When I woke up to the announcement, I felt a bit more well rested than yesterday. I guess maybe it was the new opportunities-

I was starting to sound like Aiko.

After changing, I quickly went down to eat breakfast. When I walked in, there was nobody in the dining hall.. Although there were a whole bunch of dishes in the sink. So that’s how it was? They all left me to be alone? So be it. I decided to roll up my sleeves, starting to wash the dishes. I figured I could wait to eat. They all hated me, I just knew it. Why else would they not wait? This was pointless-

My train of thought was cut off, as I heard footsteps. I turned my head, seeing a familiar green haired boy, who looked pretty tired. Naganao, right.. He clearly hadn’t eaten yet.

“Oh, hello, Hizumi.” He came closer to me, grabbing a towel, setting it beside me. Then, he went to the cabinets, starting to search, until he found ramen. He took the package out, before going to get two bowls. Oh, he was making ramen for me? 

I dried off my hands, making sure to pull out the other dishes he would need. He glanced at me, before shaking his head.

“How about you help me? I need to chop vegetables..maybe you could do that.” Naganao grabbed a pot I had offered, putting water in it, before putting it on the stove. I nodded, going to grab some vegetables and eggs. I grabbed a knife, as well, before coming back to the counter. There was a cutting board hanging on the wall, and I took it down, humming.

I could hear the water boiling, as I started to cut the vegetables, being careful to not cut myself. Normally, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but I didn’t know how Naganao would feel about me accidentally chopping my fingers off. 

Pretty soon, we were finished cooking. Naganao had put the vegetables into the ramen, as well as some other spices. He even poached an egg to go along with it. After putting it in two bowls, he set them down, grabbing napkins. I sat down quietly, as he came back, sitting in the chair next to me.

We ate in peaceful silence, although Naganao occasionally looked up at me. I figured it was nothing serious. As we finished, I figured I should leave.

“Well, I’ll see you.” I mumbled, quickly leaving the kitchen.  
-  
The garden was beautiful. The lights were annoying, but the flowers and plants glistened like diamonds. I was almost breathless, and without waiting, I got out my sketchbook and a pen. I started sketching out the flowers, although I paused when I heard some footsteps.

“Hey, Hizumi!” Ah, it was Mineko. She came next to me, smiling happily. “How are you today?” Her head tilted to the left a little bit, and I looked back at my sketchbook.

“I’m fine.” I mumbled, sketching more. I was expecting her to get the memo, but she didn’t. She was just standing there.

“Well, I’m good too!” I could hear the smile in her voice. God, she was so damn annoying. I couldn’t see why Eiichi wanted to protect her..

I should have stayed with Naganao.

Mineko came into view, an expression on her face that seemed like a mix between angry and bored. Maybe she would finally leave me alone?

It didn't turn out like that, unfortunately. Instead, Mineko picked a random flower from the garden, and held it out to me. Was this like a date thing? Was she trying to woo me? I couldn’t hide my confusion..

“Dummy, it’s a gift! Be my friend!” Mineko glares at me. I’m not threatened- I promptly spin on my heel and leave.  
-  
When I walk into the nurse’s office, Chiyako is there. She’s nervously looking through the bandages and..ointment..? I guess it would make sense. Still, I don’t think it’s super comfortable to have a massage on a hospital bed.

Chiyako waves at me, shyly. I’m honestly curious as to what she was doing exactly. I walked over, slightly looming over her shoulder. Doesn’t really seem like she notices me..

“Chiyako?” She jumps a little, looking at me. “There you go. What the hell are you doing anyway?”

Chiyako glanced back at the cabinet, before looking back at me. It’s kinda obvious..I might’ve worded that wrong.

“I mean-” I huff, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Why are you doing it?” That’s much better. I was always better at doing my art, rather than talking. Words were dumb. It seemed like Chiyako was similar..

“Oh, um..” She paused her fumbling, looking at me, then at the cabinet again. “..I wanna see if I- If I could give any massages.” Chiyako pulled out some bandages. “..some people are uncomfortable going to my room.” That made sense. At least she cared about everybody else.

Well, I don’t really give a shit either.

“Huh. I think your room is much...more relaxing than a hospital.. For most of them. Except for Mikuni.” I snort a little bit. “He probably does some freaky stuff in hospitals.”

That earned a small giggle from Chiyako. It was..kinda cute, in a way. Like how a small animal is cute, y’know.

Well, it didn’t matter.

Pretty soon, that annoying nighttime announcement went off, and I was sent to bed.

After changing, I climbed into my bed, sighing. Today was exhausting, and pretty soon, I was fast asleep.


	13. 2.2

When I woke up that morning, I immediately felt as though something was wrong. My head was pounding, and I felt cold. Yet..I was sweating as well. Getting sick in the middle of a killing game was basically execution. At least Mikuni was here.. I didn’t bother getting dressed, heading to the dining hall for something to eat.

I was greeted with everybody else, not dressed, pale, some look even worse than others. What’s going on? Kotomi sneezes into her elbow, and I’m about to talk, when.. The stupid bear appears. I roll my eyes, but my throat feels too dry to talk. It seems like even Mayaka feels like shit, as she isn’t making any remarks.

“Upupupu~! Geez, I almost feel bad for ya bastards!” He looks at our unamused faces, before cutting to the chase. “Whatever! This is your motive! Yep, that’s right! You guys are ill! And it’ll only get worse!” He continued to laugh.

Eiichi was quiet, rubbing an eye with his sleeve, before frowning. “..How bad?” He asks, voice relatively small. Monokuma hears him either way, and only seems to laugh harder. It’s making my head hurt more, and I can feel tremors racing up my spine.

“You have 48 hours or else every last one of you die! And once a murder happens, I’ll give everybody the antidote!” And without another word, the robot disappeared. All of us were left in silence, taking in this information. I can’t, though. I’ve always hated getting sick, and this was even worse. I immediately left, racing to the spare room upstairs.

I only stopped once I had entered, sinking to my knees, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I didn’t have my sketchbook with me, or a pen. I move my hands up my neck, lacing my fingers in my hair, tugging. I can’t take this. I wanna go home, to a place where I’m safe. I feel ruined.

Nobody comes after me.

They’re sick, it’s understandable. But I don’t know why it hurt, why I felt such pain, such resentment. Not even Aiko came after me. Not even her, somebody who loved me so much. I hated it.

I stayed there until the nighttime announcement went off. I felt filthy, and I rushed to bed. Filthy. I should just die, shouldn’t I?

I could barely fall asleep. Once I did, it wasn’t peaceful. At all.

I should just die.


	14. 2.3

When I woke up, I felt worse. I went right into a coughing fit, specks of blood covering my hand. I slowly got up, not changing, walking out of my room. I didn’t want to eat, though. My stomach feels like a tide, swirling and hurting. I knew if I ate, I would throw up.

I ended up going to the weight room, where I found Mayaka. Despite obviously being sick, she was working out. She was listening to music, some pop song I didn’t know the name of, and I didn’t care. It was background noise.

“Mayaka? What’re you doing..?” I sniffled a bit, wiping my nose with my sleeve. She looked over at me, offering a smile.

“Oh, heya, Hizumi! I’m just working out- Even if I’m sick, I should still train, right?” She grinned a little. “Plus, it kinda helps me distract myself from this game. You should try too!”

I could only stare. I was normally very weak in general, and with my current state, I doubted I could even try without breaking into a coughing fit.

“I can just watch you.” I walked over to the wall, leaning against it. Mayaka huffed, but continued to work out, not speaking.

The silence was pretty comfortable, in my opinion. Eventually, a few minutes lead to an hour, and Mayaka was already done.

‘Alrighty Hizumi! Well, it was nice talkin’ to ya!” She put the equipment away. “I’m gonna go get some water! Make sure to stay hydrated as well!” Mayaka then left, wiping sweat from her forehead.

I lingered in the room for a bit, looking around. It wasn’t a good place to die in. Then, I exited. I needed to relax.

  
-

  
The bathhouse. I hadn’t been here- I preferred to take showers in my room. I guess it was the aspect of being near people, and having them see who your body belonged to.

I guess the steam could help me clear up congestion. I noted that Toshimi and Mikuni had already came in here, as well as Chiyako and Kaori. I entered, grabbing a clean towel, about to get out of my clothes-

“Oh, Hizumi!” A feminine voice made me turn. Holy shit- I immediately covered my eyes. It was Kaori, but she wasn’t wearing anything. Not even a towel. Why?

“Kaori! You should be wearing a towel-” I felt her grabbing onto my arm, trying to tear my hand from my eyes. Nope. I’m not doing it. It felt wrong, like I was invading some sort of privacy.

There was shuffling, and a small huff, before Kaori grabbed my arm again.

“Fine! I promise I’m wearing a towel this time!” I could hear the pout in her voice. I trusted her, and when I removed my hand, she was indeed wearing the towel.

“Anyway!” She looked at me, suddenly serious. It was weird, seeing such an energetic girl go serious. “I know you’re the mastermind.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“What?!” I looked at her. “Why? What’s your proof?!”

Kaori grinned a bit, something unsettling. Her eyes had a glint in it, as she reached up, grabbing my face.

“I just know, Hizu! You and your sister are the masterminds!” And then, she pulled my face.

And she kissed me.

I immediately pushed her away, making her fall over. I coughed, suddenly shooting her a glare. I slowly walked toward her. She still had that grin on her face. I could afford to get blood on my shoes.

“Don’t you dare talk about Aiko that way.” I snarled. “You’re lucky I’m a moral person. I would have fucking bashed your skull in!” I turned, putting the towel back, and grabbing my stuff. I quickly left.

In truth, I’m not that moral. But I only wanna die by my own hands.

-

  
When I get to the nurse’s office, Mikuni is there, cleaning a cut on his hand. When he heard me, he looked up, waving.

“Hello, Hizumi.” He cleaned the cut more. “I take it you just got back from the sauna?’

I couldn’t help but freeze, blood slightly boiling. Kaori was horrible, I could still taste something bad. Maybe blood- I had bled so much that the taste was familiar.

“..yeah.” I mumbled, sitting down near him. He was nice to be around sometimes. Mostly unbearable, but with what I had to go through, I figured I could spare some time to talk.

“Are you alright?” Mikuni asked, looking up at me. He seemed a little worried, but at the same time, pretty professional. I couldn’t blame him- He was in a Nurse’s office. It seemed similar to what he would work in. I hesitated a little.

Did I want to tell him? I shouldn’t be trusting him, but I am.

Funny how one little instance makes your whole life change. But, I guess I should go for it.

“Kaori kissed me.” I answered quickly. Mikuni’s eyes flared in slight anger. “She said me and Aiko were the masterminds and then kissed me.”

I was met with silence. Then, I broke into coughing. This was the first day. We had one more, and then we would all die. I wanted to die. This was just a reminder.

I quickly got up, leaving. The rest of my day was spent avoiding Mikuni and Kaori, who looked at me with different emotions- Worry and hunger. I felt like prey. Friend and foe. It was horrible.

I kept my head down until I got the chance to rest, laying down in that bed. I had a hard time sleeping in general thanks to the sickness. When I finally dozed off, my mind screamed, and screamed.

I should just die.


	15. 2.4

When I woke up, I felt.. Better. I still felt shaky, but my cough had cleared but, and my head didn’t pound as much. I managed to change out of my dirty pajamas, looking at my closet. At least I had some clothes left.

When I left, I didn’t go to the dining hall. I felt like it would just ruin my mood- Or jinx the way I was feeling. Maybe I would still throw up.

I ended up upstairs, just walking. I ambled for an hour after the announcement.

And then I heard something drop.

It was heavy, coming from the weight room. I dashed over, to see Mayaka and Orimi in there, staring at..

The body of our good friend, Naganao.

As the announcement played, I took a good look at his body. He was slightly curled up, arms covered by his hair, with blood coating his face. There was a smile on his face, as well as blood in his hair. Aside from the blood, he seemed..peaceful. 

Underneath Orimi was her ukulele, which had fallen. She stood there, frozen, until Mikuni saw her and gently led her out. Naganao shouldn’t have died.

So that’s why I felt better.

I would have taken the sickness over this. I could’ve killed myself, and Naganao wouldn’t have died.

I felt Kotomi tugging at my arm, pulling me. I managed to rip my gaze away, exiting the weight room with her. It wasn’t fair. But, Naganao would want me to investigate. Just like the first trial.

“Let’s head to the kitchen.” A calm voice to my left said. “And then we can check out the dining hall, and the rooms.” It was Eiichi, who had come along, Mineko following him. Usually I would have tried to make them leave, but at this time, I didn’t care.

The kitchen was clean, cleaner than normal. No dishes in the sink, nothing missing. I checked the tall things, while the other three checked the lower cabinets. But there was nothing missing. Not even Mikuni had eaten, and he seemed to be an early riser.

“Nothing.” Eiichi mumbled, standing up straight. “Let’s go into the dining hall. I’m hoping we can find something.” He quickly walked out. I was about to follow, as Kotomi had done, when I saw Mineko looking..well..distracted. I moved, so I could ask what was wrong. I didn’t need to ask, though- these people loved to speak.

“Eiichi doesn’t normally act like this.” Even though I was close, Mineko’s voice was still pretty soft. I had to lean my head a bit. “He’s not..normally the person to look for evidence.” I kept staring at her, as she continued. “When Setsuna died, he didn’t look for evidence at all. He didn’t even speak in the first trial..” 

I pat her back, starting to walk, not saying anything. I didn’t need to. She would have to figure it out for herself. Right now, I had more serious things to look at.

When I walked in, Kotomi looked at the table. There was a ring of condensation still on it. But..no dishes were anywhere.

I quickly went to the hallway with the rooms, as Eiichi was in there, looking around. Nothing seemed out of place, except there was a faint smell. I couldn’t tell what it was..and neither could Eiichi, apparently. He looked confused. I didn’t have to speak with him nearby.

I walked through, until I saw Naganao’s door. It was slightly opened, and my curiosity was piqued. I pushed open the door the rest of the way, walking in. I looked at his bed, seeing a small lump under the thick grey covers. When I moved it..

Blood covered the white sheets, and two severed hands sat there. I covered my mouth, stepping back.

Before I knew it, the announcement for the trial went off. I stormed out, slamming the door shut.

In the elevator, everything was somber. I didn’t speak at all, gripping my arms.

It truly wasn’t fair.


	16. 2.5

It’s quiet, and despite not being sick anymore, chills still run up my spine. The grip on my podium is so tight that it feels like the wood is burning my skin. I open my mouth, and then shut it tight, not knowing what to say. Usually, I would look to Naganao for at least a little hope.

And now, I obviously can’t.

I try to look at Kotomi, but she’s looking down at the ground. It’s all silent.

Suddenly, a fist slams down on a podium, causing everybody to jump. Mayaka was looking up, tears brimming the corners of her eyes. She wiped her cheek with a hand, breathing in.

“Listen. I know, this murder has shaken all of us. But we have to keep moving. It’s what Naganao would have wanted.”

She’s right.

I lift my head up, staring at Mikuni, who seems to be thinking. We don’t have many clues, and the clues we did have were all scrambled. But if I wasn’t talking, then nothing would ever get done.

“Did any of you find a weapon?” I looked around again, only to be greeted by silence. “If nobody has, let’s talk about something we found while searching.”

Kotomi, Eiichi, and Mineko look up, and so I tell the others about the ring of condensation on the dining room table.

“Oh, yeah, I saw a half-empty glass of water in the nurse’s office.” Mikuni nodded to Orimi. “When I lifted it, there was the ring on the desk. Why somebody would leave a cup there baffles me!” Mikuni started to mumble to himself about the cup. It was..a little funny, I had to admit. He seemed so worked up over it.

“So somebody had decided to have some water...recently.” Mayaka raised an eyebrow. “Why did they have the water anyway? The murder was before the morning announcement, so-”

“But was it morning or night?” Kotomi asked, putting a hand on her hip. “That’s important too...it feels like finding a needle in a haystack!”

Osamu snorted. “Or a specific needle in a stack of needles.” He mumbled. “I couldn’t find a weapon, obviously, but I did find something else while investigating.” He looked at his nails, moving hair from his face. “Mikuni, Orimi, and Toshimi were investigating with me-”

“Yes, and we found something suspicious.” Toshimi spoke, causing Osamu to give a frustrated groan at being interrupted. However, he let Toshimi talk. “In a cabinet, there were several bags of blood, likely for transfusions. However, one bag was punctured, and a bit empty..”

I thought back to Naganao- He had a smile on his face, and there was blood on his head. But I couldn’t quite see a wound. Then again, I didn’t investigate the body itself. I didn’t know who did.

“Did the body have any marks?” I asked, nervously cracking my knuckles. There were no obvious suspects here, so this would not be easy, but my nerves were killing me.

“No.” Mayaka said, leaning on her podium. She looked pretty bored, to me at least. “I checked his head, but I couldn’t find anything. Not a cut or a scratch, or even a bruise. I’m...actually pretty sure he had no wounds at all.” I looked at her, and the question must have been written on my face. “Oh yeah, I investigated with Tamio.”

Tamio clasped his hands together, the smile on his face blooming widely. The sleeves of his robe slipped to his elbows. He was almost as pale as me- the thought terrifies me.

“Yes, yes, nothing on the head!” Tamio’s voice was a gentle lull, and Aiko clicked her tongue.

“So, somebody- likely the culprit- just used the blood on his face? That’s pointless. Unless…” Aiko looked me in the eyes, and I nodded.

“The culprit probably wanted to make us think the death was blunt force trauma, or something like stabbing to the head.” I said, gripping the podium. “So, his body was undamaged?”

There was silence from Tamio and Mayaka.

“Was it?” Eiichi asked, head tilted, hands trembling. The atmosphere was once again tense, as Mayaka breathed out.

“..no...we were checking his body, and we moved his hair..” Mayaka started, looking at Tamio, who finished for her.

“And when we looked at his arms..we noticed the absence of something. His hands were gone.”


	17. 2.6

As soon as those words left Tamio’s mouth, the room went quiet. A chill ran up my spine, remembering Naganao’s room. 

Why did he have to remind me?

I couldn’t fucking breathe.

It took a second, but Aiko ran over to me. I was trying, but my body was working against me. My head felt light. My knees gave in, and I collapsed. If I passed out right here, how would that be? Would I get executed? I should just die, shouldn’t I? Why Naganao?

Aiko gently put her hand on my back, speaking to me, although it was jumbled in my brain. I just had to breathe..

There was a notepad and pen shoved at me, which I took, starting to scribble. Once I was completely calm, I looked up again. Mikuni was there, although he was walking back to his podium. I stood up, and walked to my own, followed by Aiko.

“...Eiichi!” Kaori was speaking now, despite being mostly silent. “Why were you investigating, hmm? You didn’t in the first trial!”

Eiichi widened his eyes. “What?”

Kaori giggled a bit. “I mean....you didn’t have to investigate, honestly! Nobody would fault you!” She moved her hands, undoing her buns. “But you did. Why? Was it to throw off suspicion? You killed Naganao, I know it!”

There was silence after that- Eiichi didn’t speak. He had one hand in his hair, eyes wide. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Could he have done it? Could he have taken somebody’s life?

I shot Mineko a look, and her face said the same thing. I won’t believe it.

“No! That’s wrong!” I shouted at Kaori, and normally I wouldn’t be so loud, but..fuck her. I would see her in hell.

Kaori’s face dropped from it’s sickening smile, and she honestly seemed astonished. Her mouth opened to speak, before she closed it again. Her smile came back, a little smaller than before.

“Eiichi is a nervous wreck, I doubt he would have killed Naganao- we never decided how he died, y’know.” Mikuni crossed his arms. “I’m betting some sort of poison.”

Mayaka tilted her head. “You’re so sure about this, but what’s your evidence?”

Mikuni rolled his eyes at her, looking at me...damn, he wanted me to figure it out? What kind of bullshit-

Oh. Well, that was easy.

“There’s no other wounds, right? The most silent way of death is some kind of poison, although..wouldn’t he vomit up blood in some cases?” I looked over at the group again.

“Unless it wasn’t a type of poison.” Tamio kept smiling..I hated it. “What if-”

“It was pills!” Chiyako spoke up for the first time, lifting her gaze. “It was pills. He had an overdose. I know.” She started tearing up. “I’m the culprit.”

What the fuck.

“I don’t know about the blood on top of the head, or the hand cutting, but believe me, please!” And now she was crying. What was this sudden outburst?

“Then tell us. In detail.” Mayaka cracked her knuckles. “What the fuck happened.”

Taking a breath, Chiyako began to speak.

“It was early- 3 am, I think. I couldn’t sleep, because of the motive. My stomach was hurting too much, so I went to look around again. I found Naganao in the nurse’s office, with a cup of water with him. He asked me..” Chiyako stopped for a second, wiping her eyes. “He told me..um..that he wanted to help everybody. Told me to get some pills and hand them to him, and he would take them..and it would be a suicide..”

“So then it’s a suicide, right?” Orimi asked, scratching her arm. She frowned when Mayaka shushed her.

“I crushed them up and put them into the water...he went into the..uh...weight lifting room, waiting for me. I gave him the water and told him it was just water..and then I left. I didn’t wanna see him die..but the rest, I don’t know!”

“So you..really did kill him..well, then, who-” Toshimi was cut off.

“I’m getting bored!” Monokuma leaned forward. “Well, it’s voting time! Lock in your votes!”

The votes took a while. I didn’t want to..but I had to. I voted for her..

The culprit is..

CHIYAKO SATO, ULTIMATE MASSEUSE.

“Correct!” Monokuma spun in his chair. “Now-” He hit his gavel against the button on his desk. “It’s PUNISHMENT TIME!” Chiyako looked around nervously, before suddenly a panel in the floor moved, dropping her to her demise.


	18. 2.7

When Chiyako gets up, she’s in a calm room. It’s walls are cream colored, it has several beds, towels, and sweet-smelling candles. There was a desk, with drawers in it. Before Chiyako can look through them, she’s greeted by a copy of Monokuma. It instructs her to change into a towel and lay down on the bed, so she does so in a changing room. It’s polite enough to give her one.

She lays down on the bed, facing downwards, and is greeted by the feeling of gloved..paws..on her back. It’s surprisingly soothing, and it starts to work out the tension in her back. After a few minutes, the paws are taken away. There’s shuffling, and then she feels something on her back..rocks.

They start off a bit warm, but slowly heat up. She barely feels it at first, until the pain starts to shoot into her. She grits her teeth, tears starting to form in her eyes, as she smells the searing of her flesh. She struggles a bit, but hears a metal sound- she glances at her arms. Monokuma handcuffed her arms and legs to the bed, to keep her there. The searing hurts so bad.

The rocks are taken off pretty quickly, blood covering them, and Monokuma puts its paws on her back again. It starts to press down, this time harsher. They press into the bottom of her back first, then going up her spine. It doesn’t hurt at first, but it repeats the action over and over, slowly putting more pressure. She pulls against her restraints, tears starting to stream down her face, as Monokuma presses down on the lower part of her back.

She hears a snapping sound, and a cry of pain leaves her, but Monokuma doesn’t stop. Her back cracks, over and over, every vertebrae snapping against the pressure. She doesn’t die, starting to sob.

Monokuma lifts its paws again, this time pushing them onto her neck, grabbing it and-

_ **snap.** _

Her neck twists at an odd angle, the snap resounding through the room, and Monokuma stands up, discarding the gloves, before exiting.  
-  
-  
It was sick.

I could somehow tear my eyes away from the scene, but Mayaka couldn’t. She was trembling. She seemed...a mix of sad and angry. She suddenly looked at Monokuma, who was still sitting in his seat. She grit her teeth, clenching her fists.

“You bastard.” Her voice was filled with venom. “I’m gonna fucking rip you to shreds! You hear me? YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS S-”

“Alright, alright.” Osamu cut her off, coming over. “C’mon, lets go. You gotta take your anger out on something that’s _not_ the murder robot.” He grabbed her arm, tugging her. She didn’t move at first. “Mayaka. Come _on_.” With that, they were gone.

I didn’t wait for Kotomi or Aiko, turning and leaving quickly. I couldn’t get Naganao out of my mind. Everything was overwhelming me. I didn’t notice anybody else, as I rushed out, trying to hold back the tears stinging at my eyes.

I spent the rest of the time in my room, until nighttime hit. I changed into my pajamas, and slid into bed.

I couldn’t sleep. I could only stay there, eyes closed, waiting for sleep to take me.

Who was next?

_Chapter 3: Sleeping Pills unlocked_


	19. 3.0

I didn’t want to get up.

The morning announcement had come on, but I didn’t wanna face the others. But I had to, didn’t I?

Somehow, I got out of my bed, going to my closet and changing into my usual clothes. I grabbed my sketchpad and a pen. Once I did that, I left for the dining hall.

There were only a few people there, surprisingly. I guess they had the same feelings as me. Aiko, Kotomi, Mikuni, and Orimi were the only ones there. I assumed they were either still in bed, or just wanted to skip breakfast.

Mikuni glanced at me, giving me a small smile, before putting cereal and yogurt in front of me. He gave me a spoon, before going back to cooking. It smelled good, although I couldn’t tell what it was.

I ate pretty slowly, watching as Mikuni brought in food for the others. Pancakes and eggs..so that’s what the smell was. That made sense. I didn’t eat pancakes or eggs, not often at least.

The other four were talking, but I stayed out of the conversation, not answering when the others tried to talk to me. Aiko was trying, mostly, but I ignored her. Once I finished my food, I stood up.

“I’ll clean up your stuff for you, Hizumi.” Mikuni nodded, smiling. “You can go if you want.”

After that, I left, not waiting for anybody else. I could have, but I wasn’t feeling up to it today.  
-  
I climbed up the stairs..twice. The third floor seemed pretty nice- there were the occasional table, with flower pots on them. The flowers were slightly wilted, and there were several doors, with padlocks on them.

There were only six without padlocks. I went up to the first one, which had an automated door. Hm.. nice. As I entered, I noticed Tamio was in there. It was a laundry room.

The walls were grey, and the place was pretty bright. Tamio fit well in here, but I certainly didn’t.

“Hello, Hizumi.” Tamio gave a smile, and I waved back, walking in further.

The washing machines and dryers were all open, but I couldn’t see anything inside them. No clues or anything.

As soon as I was done, I left, not wanting to stay any longer than I had to.

The next four rooms had a few people outside the doors. Eiichi and Mineko were near one. Mayaka, and Kaori were near another. Osamu was by himself near one door, and the last door had nobody near it. I went to the last door, peering inside. Inside were three jail cells..

I looked back over to Osamu, before walking over. He was checking his nails, but once I came closer, he looked up.

“Is this also a jail cell?”

“Yeah. There are about three cells in it.” I started to leave, and he spoke again. “What about the door you just checked out?”

“Same as you- Three jail cells.” Once I said that, I went to the last door.

I entered it, and Toshimi immediately left. It seemed he was done with this room..but..I didn’t know why.

There were monitors around, and a drawing pad on the desk. There were several packages of paper, and several pencils and pens around.

I didn’t understand the room, and I was about to turn around and leave, when Monokuma appeared.

“Puhuhu~! So you finally got here!” Monokuma’s shrill voice pierced my ears.

I rolled my eyes, turning. “Ugh, leave me alone!”

Monokuma made an angry sound. “I can tell you exactly what this place is, though!”

..  
I slowly turned back around, staring at Monokuma. I lifted my eyebrow- the one that wasn’t covered- as if to say ‘get on with it’.

“Well..it’s the animation room~! Puhuhu!” Monokuma’s grin seemed to get sharper. With that, he disappeared.

The..animation room?

I had to leave.

I quickly went to the door, although I couldn’t help but take one more look at the room. Rikiya would have loved it.

Fuck, why was I thinking of him?

I quickly went back to my room, not talking to anybody around. I didn’t think I would be able to stay in that room for now..maybe later, I would come back to it.

I didn’t realize it, but I ended up holed up in my room until the nighttime announcement. I changed, then went right to bed. I fell asleep surprisingly fast.


	20. 3.1

I’m glad we have a laundry room, because I basically ran out of clothes.

I look at the basket that Monokuma had provided, sighing, putting my dirty clothes in there. I had put them in a heap on the bottom of my closet, so they were easy to pick out. I didn’t even know how they had copied my clothes, but I guess it was better than sleeping and walking around in the same clothes all the time.

I headed over to the room, opening the door, looking up to see...Oh, that wasn’t so bad.

Eiichi was there, doing his laundry, softly humming to himself. He seemed...less nervous than usual. That wasn’t a problem- people are calmed down by certain things. He’s not talking to me that much.

Somehow, I think I like his voice more, so I decide to press.

“Hey, Eiichi.” I nod, putting my laundry in beside his. I don’t do my laundry. I rarely leave the house- My grades are just on the edge. My teachers just..didn’t care much. I was a background kid, after all. “..help me here.”

Eiichi chuckled a tiny bit. It was soft, light, and his smile was too.

“Watch, Hizumi.” His voice was sweet, as he put in products, explaining settings and what to do. He was teaching me a lot, and leading by example. Once he was done, he turned the washing machine on, nodding.

“Well..” He took his laundry out of the washing machine, putting it in the dryer. He turned it on, before going to sit down. I followed, sitting next to him.

“You seem..nervous, a lot.” I could understand that. I’m not the best with conversation- But, I understand.

He’s quiet for a moment. Did I cross a line? There were few people I cared about- Kotomi, and..him. I’m about to apologize, when he answers.

“..Yeah. It’s just how I am.” He smiles at me- So, I didn’t cross a line.

Soon, we go back to silence, preparing laundry. And then, we leave, parting ways finally.

**\- **

I end up back in my room, grabbing my art stuff, starting to sketch. Sometimes, I felt more peaceful when I was sketching. I didn’t have to worry about anything.

There was a knock at my door.

Although I really didn’t want to go over, I ended up leaving my bed, going to my door. I opened it-

“HEY!” Aiko jumped at me, making me stumble back, almost slamming the door shut on her, although I stopped myself. She started laughing, and I glared at her.

“Shut up!”

“You’re so stupid! What if I was a murderer?” Her voice was light, and I glared even harder at her. “Hey, what’s wrong? You’re usually a negative nancy, yeah, but now you’re..even more so!”

I rolled my eyes, moving to shut the door. She gave a huff, grabbing the knob, stopping me.

“Seriously! Tell me!”

“You wanna fucking know?” I leaned forward, hands trembling. God, she was so..annoying. “People are fucking dead! Four fucking people! And, hey, I was close with one of them! He cared for me. And you know who wasn’t there?!” I leaned forward more, ignoring the anger that was slowly coming across her face. “You! You weren’t there for me!”

Aiko put her hands against my chest, pushing me with ease. She was always strong. I took my hand off the door, steadying myself.

“I..” Her face was dark. Suddenly, I felt small. “I have always fucking been there for you. You were just too..too fucking selfish to realize!” She rarely swore- not like this. “THIS IS WHY MOM AND D..dad..”

Aiko trailed off, eyes focused on my face. I stared right back, watching the emotions flicker through them. Anger turns to shock, and she’s clearly trying to take back everything.

“Continue.” I grit my teeth a bit. “Tell me what you were doing to say.”

Aiko shook her head, glaring again, before turning and leaving.

With a huff, I slammed the door shut, locking it and going back to my bed. I laid down, shutting my eyes.

**\- **

It was a few hours later when I woke up. I didn’t even realize that I fell asleep. I slowly got up, stretching, before heading to my door. I quickly left my room, deciding to head to the jail cells. When I went into one of the rooms, Osamu was there, a hand on his chin. He wasn’t as annoying as the others, good.

“Hey, Osamu. Find anything interesting?” I looked around the three cells.

“Yeah, actually.” Osamu produced a piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to me. “It was hanging up on the wall.”

I grabbed it, looking at the contents. It was a bunch of stuff scribbled over and crossed out with pencil. I couldn’t see exactly what was under the scribbling, not until I reached the end. The last statement was completely clear, highlighted in yellow.

‘Beware the Hare’

I looked back up at Osamu, holding the paper back out to him. He took it, folded it up a few times, and put it back into his pocket.

“What do you think it could mean?” I wasn’t good with rhymes, or riddles. Osamu was smart, so maybe he could have some clue.

Osamu shrugged. “Somebody could have a lucky rabbit's foot. It’s random, but I can’t help but think of it, since we never got a lucky student. Maybe it helps them figure out the mastermind? But, that’s probably not plausible..”

I stared at the ground for a moment, burning the speckles of blood on the ground into my mind. Hare…

“Mikuni’s last name is Hara. That’s one letter away from hare.” I bit my nail a bit.

“Maybe he’s a traitor?”

“Or the mastermind.” Osamu added.

We talked for a while, until the nighttime announcement came on. We glanced at the camera in the room, then each other, before parting ways.

As I changed and sat in my bed, I couldn’t help but think. Was Mikuni really that suspicious?

He seemed too nice to be a traitor, or the mastermind. He made breakfast for us, and attempted to help me during the Kaori situation..

Then again, you had to be trustworthy to get your information.

I fell into a restless sleep.


	21. 3.2

When I got up, I felt a bit more refreshed. I had gotten closure since last night. I quickly changed, opening my door and leaving.

Instead of heading to the dining hall, I headed to the animation room. It was quiet, with nobody there. I guess I liked the peace and quiet.

Rikiya would have brought me here. He would have probably talked a bit as he animated, or we would sit in comfortable silence. Maybe we would have been interrupted by one of the others, and he would have laughed a little, looked at me- took my hand and led me out.

I wish it would have been Mikuni who killed Setsuna. Or somebody else. Just not him- not Rikiya. He didn’t deserve it- He was just a kid. We were all just kids..

After a few minutes of staring, I finally left. My appetite was gone, but I didn’t care. I headed to the dining hall, where the others had..finished eating? Mikuni had my food, and he raised an eyebrow to me.

“What took you so long?” Mikuni asked, pouring the milk in the cereal, handing it and the yogurt to me.

“I was just in the animation room.” I sat in my chair.

We died down, as I ate. I heard the familiar sound of the bear laughing, and I glared looking up through a mouthful of Cheerios.

“Oh fuck off-”

“Pupupu! You guys are lucky! Because-” Monokuma was about to finish, when several people rolled their eyes.

“It’s motive time..!” Mineko answered, voice slightly mocking Monokuma. The bear had a slightly annoyed look.

A beeping sound filled the room, all of the tablets going off at once. Monokuma sent a glare, not letting us open the messages. Once it was quiet again, Monokuma seemed to grin wider.

“Now, pupupu!” His red eye seemed to glow softly. He was definitely annoyed by the fact that we didn’t seem to take it seriously. “The motive! That message was part of it.”

The air grew colder.

“You’re given one person. You must kill them! You have about 3 days! And if you don’t..you’ll die! And you don’t wanna die!” And then he disappeared, just like always.  
I was in shock, but it was no time before Mikuni had cleared his throat, taking control.

“Let’s head back to our rooms. Look at our tablets, but..we’ll tell each other, alright? We can take precautions.” I scowled at his words, getting up, starting to walk out.

“I’m not telling any of you shit.” I mumbled, not looking to see any of their reactions. When I got to my room, I shut the door, taking out my tablet. I took a breath, turning it on and opening it.

When I saw who my target was, I felt horrible. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t move, even as the tablet turned off. I must have sat there for hours. The announcement came quickly, and I finally shook myself out of my stupor, changing back.

As I laid down, and eventually drifted off, I thought about my target. Why..?

Orimi Mizui, Ultimate Ukulele Player.


	22. 3.3

When I woke up, I skipped breakfast, not having the ability to stomach anything. Even just thinking about the motive made my heart rate spike. I didn’t want this- I didn’t want to hurt her. Did I really have a choice?

What a stupid question. Of course I had a choice. I wouldn’t kill her- no matter what this pathetic excuse of a robot had to say.

When I went to one of the spare rooms, Tamio was there, eyes closed. I couldn’t tell if he was asleep, or..

Before my mind went into the darker territory, his eyes opened, and he offered a smile. It was softer than all his other ones- thinking back to the first time I had met him, I’ve never seen him smile like this. He gently patted the spot next to him, and I gladly took it. We had such a contrast- I wore dark colors, he wore bright colors, mostly white.

“...are you alright?” Tamio finally spoke, after a moment of silence. “I know, it’s strange to ask. I don’t think anybody’s fine, but..” He looked at me, and a flash of something appeared in his eyes, before disappearing. “..I doubt anybody has asked you.”

I let out a laugh, pulling my leg up, to rest my elbow on my knee. “Well, to answer your question, no. I’m not alright. I mean, I lost some people I got kinda close with, and-”

“-you and your sister had a fight. Before you ask, I was just outside my room. I didn’t hear much.” He kept staring at the ground, his smile slowly fading. For the first time, I saw his creepy facade shatter. “What’s under your fringe?”

“How are you holding up?” After I asked, he looked at me with an unnamable expression, before dropping it. He knew I was deflecting.

He pulled his knees to his chest, laying his chin on them. “Not very good. I suppose..it’s very lonely. Not many people actually want to hang out with me.”

“Cause you’re a cult leader-”

“Cultist. Not a cult leader.” Tamio gave a tired laugh. “I follow, not lead. It’s not like I..” He trailed off, and then his smile was back. “Well, we all gotta have our secrets! He unraveled himself, before standing up, dusting his clothes off. Without even saying goodbye, he left. After a few minutes, I finally stood, exiting the room.  
**-**  
Mineko was standing in the weight room, surprisingly. She was looking around, clearly not in the mood to work out.

“Hey.” I said it pretty quietly, but she still jumped, whipping around to look at me. She relaxed.

Mineko looked away from me. “Who..Who did you get..?”

“Promise to tell me yours if I tell you mine?”

“Okay..uh..deal.”

I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t keep the promise. I was shit at that too.

“I got Orimi.” I said it in one breath. Mineko didn’t really react. Good. I couldn’t take any scrutiny.

“Osamu.” She said it so quietly I almost didn’t catch it. I snorted a little when I did hear.

“You? Killing Osamu? You’re like.. The size of his hand.” I stretched a little.

“Yeah, and you could snap Orimi’s neck without trying.” Her voice was low, but when I looked at her, I found no regret in her eyes. I swore, I heard something from behind me, but Mineko made no move to look at it, so I figured it was just me.

I couldn’t deny, it hurt. I never wanted to kill anybody.

That’s what I’ve always told myself, at least.

“Face it.” Mineko looked at the ground. “You would kill her if you needed to. You’re not an innocent man.” She looked back up at me, eyes boring holes into me. “Everybody has done something unforgivable.”

And then she rushed past me, leaving the room. I just stood there, before putting a hand on my fringe, sighing.

I kept thinking of it. And then, I just left. I would dwell on it later.  
**-**  
It was about 2 pm when I found Orimi in the kitchen. She was chopping up vegetables, smiling. There was a pan on the stove, with chunks of meat on it.

She was still smiling, even though we were in a life or death situation. I fucking hated it. I could kill her- there was a knife on the countertop, unused. I hate her. I hate her face, and her voice, and the way she gets smiles even though she shouldn’t be.

I’m about to grab the knife when she turns her head, almost jumping when she sees me. She offers a wider smile.

“Heya, Hizumi! Do you want some?” She tilted her head, and without thinking, I just nodded. She brightened up. “Alright! Go and sit in the dining hall!”

I sighed, leaving the kitchen. I found myself taking what would’ve been Naganao’s seat. During breakfast, he always sat here. I had memorized all of their seats, I don’t know why. Maybe it was because I-

Orimi placed a plate in front of me, sitting next to me, putting a few forks and knives down. She set her own plate down, although it was steaming.

“So!” She smiled at me, and I wanted to rip her face off right now. She was so fucking annoying. “What do you-”

I stood up pretty quickly, before she could finish her sentence. I let the chair fall over, clattering, making Orimi wince a little. Good.

“Don’t. Don’t fucking talk to me.” She opened her mouth again, and I shot her a glare. “I’ll fucking kill you. I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

Her face paled, and she turned back to her food. Without even looking at the other steaming bowl, I left the room, gritting my teeth. I swore I heard her mumble something, but I didn’t bother to really listen.

As I walked farther from the dining room, I felt my tension melting away. It was her. I should’ve killed her.


	23. 2.4

After I left the dining room, I began to wander for a little. I went back to the animation room, standing in the middle of it.

The screens were all facing me, but they were dusty. They hadn’t been used.

They wouldn’t ever be used again.

Rikiya was dead, I knew that. I barely knew him, yet I still mourned, like he was an old friend. I hadn’t mourned Setsuna. I barely mourned Chiyako. Naganao..I don’t know. Maybe I mourned him for a little bit.

I don’t think I’m able to mourn anymore.

As I walk out of the animation room, I hear a scream. It’s loud, shaking me to my core- It was Mayaka. I could hear loud footsteps, and I didn’t think of anything else. I just started running. I looked through doors, until I got to the laundry room. There were already people going in and out, faces pale and eyes wide.

When I stepped in, I saw tons of blood. It covered the floors, almost like with Setsuna. But that wasn’t the worst part. As I slowly lifted by head, I was greeted with a horrible sight.

A body was propped up against one washing machine, head thrown backwards to reveal a slit over their throat, and blood coming from their mouth. Their hands were placed palms-up, revealing two small bleeding holes in the middles. In the middle of their forehead was another hole, bleeding, as well as flowers laid on their lap. Eiichi Chiba was dead.

Across from him was another body, this time in a much more gruesome state. Their torso was laying flat on the ground, scratches all over their body. As my eyes looked around, I noticed their other appendages laying on the ground. As I continued to step forward, I locked my eyes on one of the parts. I wanted to vomit.

It’s not every day I would be looking at Mineko Hirano’s severed head, but I guess this was an exception.

I couldn’t move, not until Mikuni grabbed my arm and tugged me away.

I didn’t want to investigate, I didn’t wanna look at her still-open eyes, reminding me that I could’ve ended this earlier.

Any of them could’ve ended this earlier.

So who had the balls? Who killed their target and then another person? Who?

I heard somebody clear their throat, and I looked to where the voice was. Mikuni was gone, but Toshimi was there. He stared up at me, and I hadn’t realized I was breathing so heavily.

“I need..I..I need..I need to help- But I-” I could barely get a word out. I felt Toshimi’s hand move to my back, and for a moment, I stopped thinking about anything but him rubbing circles into my shoulder blade.

Once I had calmed down, he motioned to the ground.

“What..?” The floor was dirty, the marble glistening with red. In my panic, I hadn’t noticed it- had I tracked in blood from the room?

It didn’t look like there were many footprints, and we weren’t too far from the door...the blood had collected at the front of the door, before spreading to the inside of the laundry room.

“If you could focus a little on the blood in the doorway versus the room, what do you notice?” His voice was calming, and as I looked in- avoiding the body almost entirely- I noticed a few things.

The blood was dark red near the doorway, but as it went inside the laundry room, I noted that it became a light orange-red.

“Save that for later. Go down to the kitchen and grab some water.” And then, Toshimi left, walking back in.

I sighed, leaving, although I didn’t go to the kitchen. I went to the garden.

It was pretty. It was clean, glistening with water. I resented it. It wasn’t comforting- if the flowers were stained with blood, maybe I wouldn’t resent it as much. We have to go through these horrible deaths and the flowers are still fucking perfect. I know it’s not anybody’s fault but our own that we got into this mess-

I should’ve stayed home.

It was only when I heard slow footsteps that I turned around, looking at Aiko, who had a concerned look on her face.

“I thought you would be in the kitchen like Toshimi said-”

“Why would I listen to him?”

Aiko paused for a second, biting her lip, before shaking her head.

“That doesn’t matter right now! Come on, Eiichi has a ton of scribbles on his arms.” Aiko grabbed my arm, and tugged. Without much of a choice, I was dragged back to the laundry room.

I avoided looking at Mineko, crouching down, lifting Eiichi’s sleeve. His entire arm was covered in them. I could make out a few words- regret, love, passion- but everything else was almost entirely scribbled out. I would have to study it a bit more.

I took out the smaller sketchbook I had, as well as a pencil, starting to copy what was on his arm.

After copying it, I immediately left the room, deciding to go back to the garden.

Before I could get there, the announcement went off.

I speed walked over to the elevator. I was the first one in there. I finally got to look at the elevator in full- it was vintage, and really pretty. I leaned against the wall, as people started filtering in.

Once everybody was in, the elevator started.

We were down to 10.


	24. 2.5

I’ve never felt more uncomfortable with this.

I mean, it’s not like I saw much. Two things. I would have to decipher those scribbles..

It was Toshimi who took the lead.

“I looked at the bodies alongside Mikuni and Tamio.” Toshimi sighed a little. “Let’s go over the basic evidence. Everybody, please share something you found.”

Aiko scratched her arm. “There was scribbling on Eiichi’s arm!”

“Eiichi’s throat was slit.” Mikuni gave a stiff nod.

“There were the holes in his head and hands!” Orimi piped in, although she wasn’t happy about it.

“Mineko had had her limbs..taken.. off, and a ton of scratches on her.” Mayaka scratched her neck.

“..The floor had blood on it. Mostly near the door.” I mumbled, although the others could hear it.

Nobody else spoke, and Toshimi clapped his hands once, looking at Mikuni. He nodded without saying anything, looking around at all of us.

“I noticed something. Eiichi’s throat was slit messily- there were several cuts around his neck, although they were small.” He gave a sigh, hands folded together. “With Mineko’s..condition..it was similar. Her limbs were chopped off in a way that almost seemed unclean.”

“They clearly didn't have much skill.” Osamu glanced at everybody. “But, that could be anybody. Still, what could they have used to cut her head off?”

We were silent for a second, gathering this information.

“Maybe an axe?” Orimi asked.

I leaned against my podium. “I’m thinking a saw.”

Mikuni shrugged. “I need to ask, first. Who were the last people with her? When?”

I raised my hand. I was the only one.

“I probably saw her about 30 minutes after the morning announcement. I was with Tamio beforehand. We were in the weight room. We talked about the motive, and she rushed out. Then I met with Orimi.” I gave a sigh. “I’m assuming Eiichi was the other person who saw her last.”

“Obviously.” Mayaka mumbled. “I didn’t find much, I didn’t investigate.”

Mikuni cleared his throat. “It was probably the saw. An axe can chop through bones, yes, but when I checked the limbs they seemed..rougher. There were marks on all the bones, each a different deepness.”

“We know the culprit didn’t really know what they were doing, in a way.” Toshimi looked at everybody with a sharp eye. “They knew they were going to murder two people, and they knew the weapon, but they didn’t know exactly how to work it. Still, they somehow managed to do it in a thin time frame. Between Hizumi seeing Mineko and her murder, it couldn’t have been more than an hour.”

“Maybe that’s why the bones were so messy?” Kotomi tilted her head. “I-I mean, like, if you were gonna kill somebody, and you were given a couple of hours..wouldn’t you enact your plan more carefully?”

I nodded. “It makes sense. But what I don’t get is why would they kill both of them?” I crossed my arms. “Like, if you had only an hour, you think you would only kill one. Eiichi only had a slit in his throat, as well as the drawings on his arms. Mineko had her limbs sawed off. You would think they would stick with one.”

The others were silent.

Aiko lifted her head. “What if..Eiichi killed Mineko first? And then somebody else killed her?”

“What’re you getting at?” Osamu raised an eyebrow.

“What if Eiichi had Mineko as a target, and killed her. He could’ve betrayed her, and maybe attacked somebody else when they walked in..and then they killed in self defense!” Aiko swung her hands around.

There was a chorus of agreements, coming from everybody but me, Toshimi, Mikuni, and Mayaka. It seemed even Kaori was hesitant.

“That is..” Toshimi trailed off.

“The stupidest thing I have ever heard.” Mikuni said it, deadpan, and I stifled a chuckle. I looked at Aiko, who had a pout on her face.

“I thought it was good!” Orimi smiled, and Tamio nodded. 

“See! Orimi agrees!” Aiko seemed persistent.

Mikuni rubbed his eyes, glancing at the three of us with a tired expression. I put a hand over my mouth, hiding my grin. Aiko was always like this- her kindness often clashed with her stubbornness.

“Let's..talk about something else.” Toshimi turned to me. “You studied the blood puddle, correct?”

Was he seriously asking me this? “Well, not really- you’re the one who-” A look made me stop. “..yeah..”

“Well, tell us what you think.” Toshimi raised an eyebrow, and I felt like a student.

I tried to think. “It was..near the door. That’s all. I’m assuming one of them, probably Mineko was killed near the door..and dragged in..but also, I need to know about the holes and the flowers.”

“They were..uhh...dead flowers. I’m pretty sure..” Mayaka shrugged. “They were pink.”

“Monokuma!” Toshimi snapped his head up, earning a jump from the bear. “Tell us those flowers, it’s the least you can do!”

The authority in his voice made Monokuma sigh. “Jeez lew-eese, kid! Chrysanthemums!”

After that, we went back to the conversation.

“Well, the flowers were covering him..and the holes were deep, but not super thick..about the size of a piece of lead.” Mayaka shrugged.

“They were likely drilled in. Aiko’s vision of this doesn’t work, especially since they were in his head and hands.” Mikuni glowered at her. “Similar to a crucifixion. I believe this had no purpose. It was only Eiichi.”

As the others continued to talk, I started to think. What about the doodles? Could they have meant something?

“Hey, can we talk about the scribbles on Eiichi’s arm?” Orimi tilted her head.

“..it..kinda looked like something from his sketchbook.” Kotomi frowned, turning to Aiko. “You know him best.”

We all stared at her. I held my breath.

“Actually..yeah..they look exactly like Hizumi’s. I took a picture, too!” Aiko pointed at me. “You killed at least one of them, didn’t you?”

I blinked, scowling a little. What the fuck?

“Mikuni was right.” I kept my voice low. “You are a complete..and utter idiot.”

“Think about it! Hizumi’s all shaky, and there were a bunch of scratches! Also-”

“..he threatened to kill me.” Orimi looked up. “Hizumi..I..I can’t believe in you. Whether you killed just Mineko or Eiichi or both..you did it. I know you did.”

They were accusing me, and nobody was intercepting? They were all just staring- varying levels of concern and confusion written all over them.

Why? Why me? Why whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy-


	25. 3.6

“..well, if Orimi is agreeing..” Mikuni mumbled.

“You can’t do that!” Toshimi winced at his volume, clearing his throat. “I mean, you can’t..accuse somebody without evidence. Hizumi, please tell us what the scribbles looked like.”

“Well..” I thought back. “They were all..layered. It was like when you scribble on one portion of the paper for a while? I couldn’t figure out any pictures or words.” I twirled some hair. “If I did it, wouldn’t I know what the pictures and words were? I can show my sketchbook-”

Right as I said that, a sketchbook fell through a panel in the ceiling, onto my podium. Usually I wouldn’t- but, this was life or death. I picked up my sketchbook, opening it. It was a full one. I turned it over, so everybody could see. After they studied it, I closed it, and put it on the ground.

“Well, that was short lived.” Osamu sighed.

“No kidding.” I crossed my arms. “Anyway, who’s to say Eiichi killed Mineko?”

Mikuni nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. The blood on Eiichi was a bit dryer. So either Mineko killed Eiichi or it was somebody else.”

“Well, maybe Mineko had Eiichi as her culprit?” Aiko tilted her head.

“..no. She said it was Osamu. She’s also like..the size of a carrot, so I doubt she killed Eiichi.” I mumbled, and the others started laughing a bit.

As soon as it was over, we fell into an uncomfortable silence.

“...what if..” Osamu cringed as he spoke. “..Eiichi was dead before her? Like..he was dead and then Mineko walked in..”

Mikuni snapped his fingers. “And the killer decided to kill her too! It makes the most sense- although, why would they tear her into pieces?”

Toshimi cleared his throat again. “I suspect that the culprit wanted to bring the most pain- maybe a result of despair.”

“Despair?” Kaori tilted her head.

“That’s plausible.” Mikuni put his hand on his chin. “Maybe a sudden stroke of despair that left them unable to do anything but fight.”

“Yeah, but those two were basically inseparable!” Aiko frowned.

“I was with Mineko for a bit sometime before the murder, remember?” I raised an eyebrow. “And Eiichi definitely wasn’t there. How could you forget this?”

Kotomi gripped her hair. “How about we narrow down who couldn’t have done it.”

“Me, Orimi, you, Hizumi..” Toshimi counted. “Eiichi and Mineko themselves.”

“Wait, I get Orimi and Kotomi, but why not you? And what about me?” Aiko crossed her arms.

“You are still a possibility. If I was the culprit, I would likely not defend Hizumi. Anybody have alibis?” Toshimi raised an eyebrow.

“This is the first time you have ever asked!” Osamu slammed his hands down. “I was with Kotomi!”

“Mhm..yeah! Until the body discovery, we were in my room! I was matchmaking!” Kotomi seemed proud, and I smiled a little.

“I can testify for Hizumi..” Orimi mumbled- I saw Mikuni shoot a glare at me.

Kaori grinned. “Me and Mayaka were in the garden before investigation! And she found the bodies!”

“I was running tests on Tamio.” Mikuni raised his hand, before setting it down.

“Toshimi, Aiko?” I turned to them. Aiko gave a frown, and Toshimi seemed calm.

“I was simply dwelling on things in the sauna. You may not believe me right now, but I do have proof.” Toshimi crossed his arms, although his position was soft.

“Well, I-I was in my room! And I have proof! Cause-” Aiko looked close to tears.

I scratched my arm. “I believe you, Aiko. You..you didn’t kill either of them. I know you didn’t..” I looked up, glaring at everybody but her and Orimi. “The rest of you are on thin ice!”

“My hair is still wet.” Toshimi sighed, squeezing his hair, which dripped a little. He couldn’t have, I knew it, cause Toshimi was a moral dude.

“She’s the only person without a real alibi!” Osamu furrowed his eyebrows.

“But what about her motive? She would never kill!” I didn’t care- Aiko wasn’t the killer, I knew it.

“Despair, Hizumi. Just...despair.” Mikuni spoke in a more..gentle voice.

“You have no proof of anything!” I gently bit into my lip. “Like, come on! This is outlandish!”

“Well, we can start with her alibi- or lack thereof.” Toshimi raised an eyebrow, almost challenging me.

“And think about those scribbles! Who knows you best? Who could almost replicate your style?” Kotomi finally spoke.

It couldn’t be. It wasn’t Aiko.

Who was I trying to convince? Them, or myself?

“..Aiko..I believe in you. Please..you’re not the culprit, right?” I looked at Aiko, tears filling my eye.

“I..I..” Aiko stammered a bit, before hanging her head. “I’m sorry.”

I blinked, tears falling slowly, before picking up. I could barely register anything, until the panel in front of me lit up. I stared at the glowing screen, with all of our faces. With a shaky hand, I chose myself.

They were right- it was Aiko. And she just stared at me.

I wanted to scream- I wanted to break everything and scream at her. But my voice wouldn’t rise above a whisper.

“..why?” I stared at the ground, but couldn’t help but listen. I deserved this.

“Tell us what happened.” Toshimi sighed, solemnly.

“..I got Eiichi as my target..” Aiko’s voice was shaky. “And I decided I would do it. I would kill him. So, I did- I sedated him with a syringe from the nurse’s office, and brought him to the laundry room..he was holding flowers in his pockets..”

She took a deep breath.

“And Mineko walked in..and I sedated her too..and tore her apart.. I was going to do it to Eiichi as well..but I heard talking nearby. So I-I put the flowers on him, and I left through another door..”

Aiko started to sob, as did I.

After a few minutes, Aiko looked up, sniffling.

“..Hizumi, I know..this is bad..but please..” She gave a shaky smile. “Please keep smiling. For me.” She turned her head, so she was staring at the ground. “..Okay, I’m ready.”

Before I knew it, a collar wrapped around her neck, and she was pulled away.

Away from me.


	26. 3.7

Aiko stands there, tears dried already, but her eyeliner had run to her chin. She breathes in and out, slowly. She was dressed in a different dress, black and white, with her microphone in hand. She appeared to be in a field, and it was raining around her, albeit light, and barely soaking her.

There were some Monokumas, holding a camera. She wiped the eyeliner off her face, as the camera turned on with a loud beep, making her smile. She let some hair fall in her face, not pushing it aside just yet.

She started to talk, reading the script. It started to rain heavier. She still talked about the weather- about the clouds, about what was on the script ahead of her, ad libbing for portions that were unfilled. Monokuma gave her a shit script, with unfinished lines and no punctuation. Some of the spelling was off, too, and the grammar wasn’t much better. Still, she read on.

It started to get colder. She was soaked, and she pushed some hair out of her eyes in order to see. She started stammering a little, but pressed on, even though her voice was quivering. Every breath produced a cloud which rose a few inches above her before dissipating. The Monokumas had umbrellas, shielding their monochrome bodies from the cold, while Aiko stood, shaking.

Suddenly, the weather changed. The sun started beating down on her, and she relaxed a little. It was hot- she felt sweat roll down her face, as she swallowed her dry throat and continued to talk. She kept talking, even though her voice was shaky, and sometimes fading out.

It changed again, this time it was snowing. Aiko shivered, wrapping an arm around herself, teeth chattering as she talked. She was almost done. It was almost over.

The snow continued to fall, and Aiko’s lips turned blue. She felt her feet get covered, and she tapped them to get some movement. She felt herself shaking harder than ever.

Before she could collapse, she finished. The camera turned off, and she dropped the microphone to the ground, letting it break.

She was about to leave, when the snow turned to rain again. This time, it came with thunder, and lightning. She turned, about to walk.

A bolt of lightning hit her, causing her to scream. The smell of burning flesh lingers in the air.

In the end, all that’s left is a pile of ash and bones.  
-  
I stare. I just stare, and I keep staring.

It’s awful.

I can still smell the burning.

“Hizumi-” Kotomi starts.

“No.” I cut her off immediately, turning, glaring at everybody. “Fuck you. Fuck ALL of you! You did this to her- YOU DID THIS TO ME!”

It was silent.

Osamu opened his mouth, then shut it. Orimi gripped Mikuni’s arm, and Toshimi kept frowning. Kaori had that stupid smile on her face.

I immediately speed walked over, grabbing the collar of her shirt and lifting her up to eye level.

“You..you fucking bitch!” I slammed my fist into her face, satisfied to hear a cracking sound. I shook my hand, before hitting her again and again. I stopped eventually, dropping her onto the ground. I kicked her side once, before leaving her alone.

I didn’t care.

Immediately, I left. I went to my room, feeling the tears start up again. God damn it. Even punching Kaori couldn’t help.

I changed slowly, before sliding under the covers, falling into a nightmare-filled dream.

_Chapter 4; Drowning in Tears unlocked!_


End file.
